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I am interested in truth, I like science. But truth is a menace, science is a public danger.
- Brave New World
- Aldous Huxley
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9, 2 L M, &5

Hindol
Year 9, No. 2 Editorial Team :
Malabika Majumdar, Maitrayee Sen,
|, 1424 Ajanta Dutt, Nandan Dasgupta
July, 2017

E-46, Greater Kailash-I,

New Delhi-110048
ohetuk.sabha@gmail.com

ISSN 0976-0989

Artists:
Rabindranath Tagore
Abanindranath Tagore
Geeta Dharmarajan
S
Chittaranjan Pakrashi
Photo Credits:
^ S Kamalika Sen
-630, M? , ~-110019 Madhusree Banerjee
92131344879891689053 Manoj Mahapatra
 S

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Special Issue - Myths & Legends

65 Kalyani Dutta 'Biyer Jogad' (Book Review)
68 Alokparna Das Raj Kahini
74 Ajanta Dutt Gods of Weather, War and Womanizing
82 Subhadra Sen Gupta In Search of Celestial Trees

85

Read : http://www.scribd.com/collections/3537598/Hindol
Give : Make your cheques to Ohetuk Sabha
Call : 98110-24547
4

I t might disturb most people to think that they still live in myths. This
follows from two reasons. First, there is the widespread presumption
that the advent of the modern and modernity, based as these reportedly
are on virtuous reason, has completely annihilated elements of belief
or praxis that are irrational. Second, a myth is usually taken to represent
something fanciful, a fabrication or simply falsehood and it is indeed
a discomforting thought that we so often and willingly move away
from truth. In reality, there are modern myths too just as there were
some in the pre-modern era. Myths have been created all the time
and they persist on account of certain pressing human needs born in
either the collective consciousness or the individual.
We delude ourselves when we believe that we always live in truth
or that Truth shall ultimately triumph. There is of course a metaphysical
view of truth which may be excepted; in the 1920s, Gandhi changed
the expression God is Truth to Truth is God by which I suppose
he was hinting at some form of de-ontic truth. In the social sphere,
however, we have to live with the fact that truths can be purely
subjective, intuitive and grounded in faith. Also, there is no cause to
argue that such truths are necessarily of an inferior order compared
to truths that are empirically observable or demonstrable. History,
which makes truth claims for itself, can be understood and written
about in several ways. In some cases, an ideological or conceptual
framework overrides a chronological arrangement of facts. What we
know as itihasa, the substance of which our epis and Puranas are
made, is palpably different from empirical notions of history as
produced in the West, for, in the former there is a characteristic blurring
of borders between the human and cosmic. It is typical of the modern

|, 1424
 5

historian to be sceptical of what he calls hagiography as against

biography. But this is missing the point of it all. When writing
hagiographies it is not the intention of the author to go by historical
accuracy; his purpose, on the contrary, is to present historical facts
in the light of what he makes of a sacred life. Hagiographies are never
without their historical value, if only for the fact that they represent
how human history can be differently conceived and articulated.
The Greeks as also the Hindus had a two tiered notion of Truth
or Reality.The Greeks set apart mythos from logos; the former gave
birth to the oracle, the miraculous and the magical and the latter, to
science and a quantitative aptitude. Hindu thinkers and writers, likewise,
spoke of the vyavaharika and the parmarthika, the everyday and
the mundane on one level and the transcendental on the other. They
were also pretty sure that the rules pertaining to one did not apply to
the other. The 9th century Indian philosopher, Acharya Sankara, argued
that a spiritual life was inconsistent with everyday life on earth which
was bound to remain context bound. Whereas temporality and notions
of space would always determine the pursuit of Dharma, Artha and
Kama, Moksha or salvation, by its very definition, had to be context
free. Ultimately, Dharma could not be taken normatively for it took
specific forms in keeping with changing contexts. As the Bhagavadgita
aptly reminds us, the Kshatriyas dharma to wage a righteous war
could come into conflict with samanya dharma which was to practice
non-violence. The same Sankara, however, was also heard to say
that even the shruti (canon) could not be trusted if it suggested that
ice could be hot to touch!
The trouble with logos or even the Hindu pursuit of everyday life
was that it failed to answer our deepest existential questions. Logos
or rational-scientific knowledge could explain how human births took
place and enable man to wander into the vast expanse of cosmos but
not with any degree of certitude the incessant and inexorable cycle of
births and deaths or the very meaning of human existence within an

|, 1424
6

explanatory framework that was neither social nor historical. It could

not also explain why despite persistent claims to be rational, we
continued to invest so heavily in non-rational things like love. The
indeterminate nature of such questions called for speculation, eventually
leading to a set of values, belief or truth-claims that offered some clue
or substance to our most puzzling questions.
In contemporary parlance, myth is often interpreted as mithya
(falsehood). However, even this falsehood has had functional value.
Through the 19th century, the West took history to be a record of
linear and unfaltering human progress and continued to hold on to
such beliefs until rudely shaken by the aftermath of the two World
Wars. It occurs to me that both fullness (purnatwa) of the Hindus
and perfection of the Western man are only functionally derived myths
that create and sustain a sense of idealism in a world increasingly
bereft of abiding human values. Even a post-modern world cannot go
by relativism alone for a relative theory of values, effectively, is not a
theory of values. There must be some space for Absolutes, for the
stable and the static if not the wholly immutable. This world, I imagine,
would be so much poorer without our follies, without human
incompleteness and imperfections. For one, unqualified virtuosity and
human perfection would fail to beget both feelings of reverence and
a creative literary sensibility. After all, when it comes to the popular
god Krishna, it is not the sagacious statesman of the Mahabharata
that is so commonly worshipped in Hindu homes and public shrines
but the lustful, lascivious pastoral playboy of Vraja country who
reportedly violated all norms of public morality and decency. The
novelist Bankimchandras attempt to establish a historical Krishna has
clearly ended in a colossal failure; no one but an academic now reads
his magnum opus, the Krishnacharitra. The Bhagavat Purana, by
contrast, which describes the early life of the amorous Krishna, had
been translated into Bengali over 40 times by the nineteenth century
alone.

|, 1424
 7

I have read with considerable interest the three essays included

in this issue that one way or another touch upon myths or the mythical.
The first of these by Alokparna Das took me back to the world of
historical fiction and myth-making that colonized Bengalis indulged in
and here, I was particularly reminded of Rajput Jeebon Sandhya
and Maharashtra Jeebon Prabhat by Romesh Chunder Dutt and
the Padmini Upakhyan by Rangalal Bandopadhyay (I have always
wondered why Bengalis left out the Sikhs until much later). Interestingly,
the trope of Kalpataru, as Subhadra Sen Gupta would no doubt
know, also occurs in connection with Sri Ramakrishna. One only needs
to drive down to Kamarpukur on a cold January morning to realize
the power that this myth still holds in popular imagination. Finally, I
was struck by the similarity that Ajanta Dutts essay has with Bankims
own researches in the 1880s on the subject of comparative mythology
(see his Devtattwa O Hindudharma).
Myths, I dare say are among the many truths that we inherit
about matters that affect our everyday lives: matters like life and death,
the universal and the subjective, nature and culture. These are not
truths that we can easily shake off notwithstanding our claims to be
modern, scientific, rational or progressive. In Hindu mythology and
metaphysics, it is Maya representing mithya or world delusion that
we are asked to guard against. Ironically, it is this very myth or mithya
that makes life itself possible!

Amiya Prosad Sen

Opinions and views expressed in Hindol are, as usual, those of the authors.
Editors

|, 1424
8

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Artist : Rabindranath Tagore

|, 1424
12

The Bangaliyana issue of Hindol we hope will travel far. When I

first read Moumitas short story, I wished she had given it a more happy
ending, an idealised ending.
And then came Gargi-dis article and the true situation of the Hindu-
Muslim divide that continues to exist. Or as she makes us see, it is
descriptively the bangali and mussalman divide. Not only does she bring
to the article intense scholarship and research, she puts forward her
argument in such lucid terms that it is totally comprehensive and therefore
somewhat scary. It returns us to the past, to a pre-independent India,
and makes us wonder where everything went wrong.... Or did anything
go wrong...Was it all meant to percolate in just this manner?
Regards to all,
Ajanta Dutt
* * *
Dear Maitrayee (if I may),
Thank you so much for your wonderful review of my book Tagore
Speaks to the Twenty-First Century in Hindol bilingual magazine. I
cannot thank you enough for reading my book so thoroughly and
appreciating my perspective on Tagore. I would value the opportunity
to discuss it with you, especially on your point that it is difficult for the
uninitiated reader to comprehend the picture that the author intends to
depict, which leads on to my subsequent writings on Tagores relevance
to the ecological and social crises we face today.
I will just say that my dear friend Uma sent me a pdf of your April
issue because Ive had difficulties accessing Hindol online, despite
usually being quite technologically competent, so I was able to appreciate
the art work and illustrations and read all the contributions in English. I
enjoyed it all so much, so thank you for putting together such an
interesting magazine.
I will stop there, and just thank you again. Do please reply if you
would like my feedback on the other articles.
Yours sincerely,
May 1, 2017 Chris
chris_e_marsh@hotmail.com (Christine Marsh)

PS - I will just add that because I self-published my book, Ive had

difficulties reaching people who might enjoy and value it. It is available

|, 1424
 13

from amazon.co.uk but outside the UK no one would go there. Its also
available from a paypal link on my website: http://tagoreanworld.co.uk/
where Im offering it for 10 (830 rupees) which is what it costs to
post abroad. Maybe you could pass this on if anyone makes enquiries.

Dear Chris,
Yes, of course, please feel free to call me Maitrayee. I address you
similarly.
I was delighted to read your mail and to know that you liked my
review. Let me tell you in turn how much I enjoyed reading your book,
and, as I have written in the review, the fresh perspective that you
brought to the study of Tagore. I say this from the point of view of the
average Tagore fan like me - not a scholar - who is always eager to
know more about him. It was this large group of people that I referred
to when writing about the uninitiated readers, who might find themselves
on rather unfamiliar grounds when starting to read your book - being
used to the concept of Tagore the poet and thinker - but later likely to
experience something of a revelation, when beginning to realise the
totality of his personality and work.
True you and I do not know each other, but may I tell you that,
firstly, a friend of Umas I would consider my friend also. Besides, you
must have realised by now that I am a die-hard fan of Tagore, as
obviously you too are. That, I feel, is an equally strong bond. Therefore,
please feel free to write to me your thoughts on the matter as well as
your feedback on the other articles.
With warm regards,
Maitrayee Sen
May 3, 2017 Delhi

Dear Maitrayee,
I am delighted to have you as a new friend through Uma and Tagore,
and to be invited to talk more about my fresh perspective on the study
of Tagore. In conversations here in England I sometimes describe myself
as a Tagore scholar because it seems to spark an interest in Tagore (a
name most people have never heard before) at least as a subject of
scholarly study. Then I talk about Tagore as a social reformer who

|, 1424
14

worked on reviving rural society sharing my view that relocalisation

everywhere is the only way to achieve sustainability and solve the
current ecological and social crises. But Im not an academic, not really.
I spent four years as a PhD student at Exeter University in my 60s, so
I wasnt aiming for an academic career, just completing a second cycle
of education. My first degree was in maths and my working life was in
information systems. In parallel with that I have always been an activist:
a socialist, environmentalist and pacifist, and my specialism was land
use and land degradation. So my interest in relocalisation and redesign
of farming and community came first and recognising that Tagore
was a pioneer in that form of world change was what interested me in
him, hence my MA dissertation on The Village and the World: A Political
Reading of Rabindranath Tagores Prose Fiction.
Ive been trying to think when I first heard of the Tagore Centre in
London and got to know then-director Kalyan Kundu and people in the
Bengali community in North London. Glancing back at diaries from my
time at Exeter University, it was before 2008. So my interest in
Bengaliness goes quite a way back. I enjoyed Subhadra Senguptas
How Bengali Are We? especially because I remember how concerned
the Bengalis of my generation whom I met in London were about their
children and grandchildren not being interested in their heritage.
As you know, I cannot read Bengali and it was lovely that in your
review you made that (almost) an advantage for bringing out the range
of Tagores ideas that I wanted to share and encourage by my book. I
have tried to learn Bengali quite hard actually and I learned the
character set which is so beautiful! and I can look up words in my
Bengali-English dictionary and I have a modest vocabulary, so I spotted
some words as I scanned through your publication. I have my own
sense of Bengaliness from when I was involved with the Tagore Centre:
I love the warmth, generosity, liveliness and hospitality the cooking! I
had a Bengali tutor Purnima Gosavi who lived quite near me but is now
in Canada. She was a wonderful cook too.
I loved the art work by Jyotirmoy, all the illustrations by Sita Ray,
and the overall appearance of April Hindol. This seems appropriate
for an issue with several pieces about Tagore, especially Tagore The
Man and His Art, where Amiya P. Sen writes that Art pervades the
very essence of Tagores life and work and it is also art in its myriad

|, 1424
 15

forms. There is art in his poetry and plays, in his speeches and songs,
art in the way he dressed and carried himself and art in his very
demeanor. So true! For Tagore, a crucial aspect of art in all its aspects
is the experience of joy, and he sympathised deeply with the Indian
peasants who were robbed of joy by the effects of British rule and
neglect by absentee landlords. My feeling is that his writing on art and
joy is a big part of what makes Tagores ideas relevant today, for the
kind of world change we need. The essence of Tagorean world change
is threefold: positive, local and practical.
As you would expect, I greatly appreciated Umas article Vidya or
Siksha Tagores Ideas of Education. Much of her subject matter
was familiar to me since Tagores ideas on education have been much
written about, as also his views on nationalism and East-West matters,
and his friendship and disagreements with Gandhi. It was the Vidya or
Siksha theme which intrigued me which I sensed all through, not only
in the fourth part where Uma addresses it explicitly. This is such a
crucial distinction for which there is no equivalent in English, and this is
very regrettable given that the experience of teaching and learning is
being ruined in my country due to a curriculum concentrating on siksha:
basic skills in literacy, maths, science and computing. Many dedicated
teachers are leaving the profession because there is little satisfaction in
this bland and joyless Gradgrind approach. The idea of vidya: instilling
morality and social values, doesnt come into it anywhere.
I will stop there, but there is much more I would love to discuss
with you. The key thing that interests me in what you wrote in your
review is that you see the need for a fresh perspective on the study of
Tagore. Where and how can we reach people who are open to that?
One Tagore fan I have got to know, having met him in England, is
Aseem Shrivastava, author of Churning the Earth: The Making of
Global India. Wonderful book! He said to me recently that it is difficult
to overestimate Tagores importance for a clear vision of the ecological
dimensions of modernity I certainly agree with that!
Warm regards,
May 5, 2017 Chris

* * *

|, 1424
16

Dear Editors,
I felt elated to see the article on Rani Rashmoni in this special
issue. I have long deplored the way this remarkable lady has been
neglected by one and all. Not knowing much about her, I was impressed
and intrigued by the little I read about her and wondered why she has
not been given prominence by even the Ramakrishna Mission, leave
alone the successive Governments of West Bengal! Even Matangini
Hazra has been given a prominent statue on Red Road, but Rani
Rashmoni whose contribution and character were so much more
impressive is relegated to almost a state of anonymity!
I thank Hindol and Ms. Sreemati Mukherjee for the
acknowledgement of the admirable character of this uneducated lady
who did so much more than most others of the era, who were as well-
placed, but lacked her courage, generosity and sensitivity. I felt
particularly appreciative of her being compared to the Rani of Jhansi. I
laud Ms. Mukherjees giving the karmic angle, because, as she says,
there has to be a karmic background for her to accept being slapped by
Ramakrishnadev and support him so unwaveringly all through.
I have heard that it was Rani Rashmoni who gifted the Maidan to
the City of Calcutta, as grazing land can anyone tell me whether this
is true? If that be the case, Calcuttans have even greater cause to be
grateful to and proud of this remarkable lady who was so far ahead
of her times; even today it would be difficult to find a lady who has the
kind of qualities she had!
I have yet to read the article on How Bengali Are We, but as a
neutral person whose forefathers came from the Rann of Kutch, and
who has lived in Kolkata for some 56 years and love the city and people,
I would like to say that I was struck by the refinement of Bengalis and
the sweetness of the language when I came here as a bride of 17, in
1961. I instantly resolved to learn the language and made a number of
Bengali friends, attracted by the open-hearted warmth, culture, artistic
talents, simplicity, and sense of fun. It is sad to see these sterling qualities
being increasingly absent in the modern Bengali youth, and even among
sophisticated intellectuals and, of course, the elite social circles (read
nouveau riche). But that is to be expected; it is the same
everywhere. Only, the Bengali culture seems far more worthwhile to
retain than most of the cultures of our country. I wonder if it will

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 17

sound like boasting if I say that I feel more Bengali than Kutchi; more a
Calcuttan than a Bombay-ite?!
Anyway, thank you!! I am sure many of your readers, if not all, will
read this article with deep pleasure.

Yours sincerely,
Purnima L. Toolsidass
May 2, 2017 Kolkata

The Editor,
Hindol
I am quite impressed by the interest and passion that the Rashmoni
article has generated. This was no doubt an essay that was timely and
appropriate but I remain quite sceptical about some of its conclusions,
particularly the comparison made between Rashmoni and Laxmibai.
I give below some reasons for my historical scepticism:
1. The two Ranis were of very different social origin; one belonged
to royalty, the other was respectfully called a rani by the people.
2. It would be unhistorical to call Laxmibai a nationalist for the
important reason that a nation was not born yet in India. It would be
more accurately called patriotism which was attached to the land of
ones birth and habitation than the nation at large.
3. It is also important to realise that Laxmibai was not driven by any
nationalist impulses. Rather, she essentially tried to contest the infamous
Doctrine of Lapse which prevented her from adopting a son and heir to
the throne. By comparison, Rashmonis acts were far more public
spirited.
4. With regard to the uprising of 1857, the two ranis had very
different attitudes. Laxmibai died fighting; Rashmoni sided with the British
administration as did every major landlord in Bengal. Cornwallis, who
created the Permanent Settlement in land, had astutely prophesied that
the rule of property would prevent an anti British uprising in Bengal.
5. It is Hindi and Hindu nationalism that created a nationalist icon of
Laxmibai. Most of us would have heard of Subhadra Kumari Chauhans
famous tribute to the Rani: Khoob ladi mardani woh to jhansi wali rani
thi! Sadly, no Bengali poet appears to have thought of Rashmoni.
I have great regard for Rani Rashmoni not just for her phenomenal

|, 1424
18

charity, her love of the people but equally the remarkable restraint she
showed when slapped by Sri Ramakrishna in public. Very few of her
wealth and status would have done that.
I write in the hope that this rejoinder will be inserted at an appropriate
time.
Sincerely,
Amiya P. Sen
May 3, 2017 Delhi

Responding to Professor Amiya Sens mail:

I would like to state at the very outset that I am not a history scholar,
or in other words, a historian. My field is Literature, which I pursue
with commitment and passion.
One of my areas of specialization (however ambitious that may
sound) is Feminist Theory. It was from a particular feminist perspective
that I brought in the comparison between Rashmoni and Laxmibai. I
am interested in locating emerging forms of agency, power and voice,
in women of a particular class in 19th century India, but more specially,
in Bengal. I undertook this search not simply from an academic point of
view. I was interested in tracing my own roots as a comparatively
empowered woman of contemporary India and also Bengal. Any
trajectory which marks a change from enslavement to power is
romantic and dramatic. Hence my interest in such a plot from the
point of view of Literature too.
Professor Sens points are undoubtedly well taken, but I would like
him to consider how women like Laxmibai and Rashmoni offer interesting
points of departure for Indian historiography of the 19th century, usually
modelled on male actors. Naive and sweeping as the comparison between
the two may seem, Laxmibai and Rashmoni are analogous in the bold
assertion of womens autonomy. Even if Rashmoni offered support to
the British during the 1857 battle of Independence, her interrogation
and subversion of British colonial rule are also well documented.
Regards,
Sreemati Mukherjee
May 4, 2017 Kolkata

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 19

"The world is not dangerous

because of those who do harm
but because of those who look
at it without doing anything."
Albert Einstein

With best wishes from :

International Cargo Terminals

& Infrastructure Private Limited
(J.M. Baxi Group)
New Delhi

|, 1424
20

OHETUK SABHA
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Email : ohetuk.sabha@gmail.com

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|, 1424
 21

Ohetuk held its 100th adda on 7th May 2017.

A report went out by email as usual.
The report first. And then the reactions on email.

Report on the 100th Adda

Ohetuk Adda held its 100th Adda on the 7th of May 2017. Starting
in September 2008 as a small group of discussants who chose a Sunday
every month to reflect and ruminate on various topics, Ohetuk Adda
has been able to attract much interest among the Bengalis of Delhi and
its suburbs. Ohetuk also started publishing a bi-lingual quarterly under
the banner of Ohetuk Sabha. Hindol, now a fairly well circulated journal
for the serious readers was started in July 2009. Themes for the addas
have been wide ranging, though with a bias for Bengali literature and
culture. In its 99 sessions, Ohetuk Adda has discussed and experienced
literature, classical and modern, travel, cinema, arts, music, poetry, the
epics, childrens literature, and even Shakespeare. There were even
discussions on postage stamps and industrial design. The members noted
with regret that sports appeared to be the only topic that remains to be
covered till date. Celebrities and scholars like Shamik Bandopadhyay,
Dhruva Chaudhuri, Narayani Gupta, Uma Dasgupta, Shirshendu
Chakraborty, Amiya Prosad Sen, Shubhadra Sen Gupta, Ashish Ghosh,
Jahar Kanungo, Nabaroon Bhattacharjee and others have also spoken
and performed at the adda. Many have written for Hindol.
Etymologically, adda may have come from the Malto language, an
offshoot of the Northern Dravidian language spoken in eastern India,
especially in Jharkhand, and in the adjoining southern plateau of Bengal
and Odisha. Here, atta or adda means a gang of persons engaged in
illegal activities like addiction or drug rings, snatchers and thieves and
loose groups for carrying out anti-social activities. One does not know
whether defining the adda in this manner was motivated by the hegemony
of the Indo-Aryan culture on the Dravidians of the region which imposed
such meanings upon local habits. But today, the adda occupies the

|, 1424
22

prime space of Bengali culture, meaning quite completely the opposite

of what it would mean in the Malto language.
Adda is a Hindi noun as well which means a depot and/or a
congregation of service providers like transporters, labourers, sellers of
goods and services as in the hawai-adda, meaning the airport, bus-
adda which means the bus depot, or just adda as in places of
congregation. In the Bengali language, it is both a noun as well as a
verb.
The adda is often likened to the French salons of which Jurgen
Habermas speaks in his treatise on the Public Sphere where people get
together in neutral spaces such as a caf or a salon merely for the joy
of discussing topics which are public in nature and are of so-called
universal interest. A reference to Syed Mujtaba Alis description of
Egyptian addas also came up. The defining feature of the adda, is that
the topics discussed are impersonal and are essentially meant to share
and build knowledge. Indeed, even in rural Bengal, the addas of women
in the afternoons were around their knowledge of food preservation,
recipes for cooking or brewing medicinal potions as they sat in their
courtyards with embroidery and sewing. The afternoon siesta was looked
down upon as being the custom of the prostitutes. The mehfil of the
Mughal women was also about knowledge sharing that included warfare
and technology, science and the letters but also arts and crafts, music
and dance, poetry and epics. However, for the urban male in Bengal,
coffee houses or the roks (which are the protruding and raised plinth of
houses in Kolkata and elsewhere in Bengal) used to be the spaces for
the adda. In rural Bengal the young men could even be perched atop a
wall, or a suspended platform called the maachaa, literally the adda,
which means perch in Persian.
Irrespective of whether it is of men or women, or rural or urban,
people participate in the adda as equals without bringing baggage of
their social statuses; when in an adda, every member is equal to any
and everyone else. The personal affairs of the participants are of no
concern to the adda and the regulars who see one another over decades
in an adda may never know any personal details of any other. Adda has
no place for competition or for ostentation. The adda is clearly focused
on the subject at hand and the interests of the participants are none
other than pure intellectual discussion.

|, 1424
 23

How have the addas of Ohetuk Adda been over a hundred sessions?
They have been great learning experiences for most. Sessions on
literature, epics, music, the theatre of Shakespeare or even Bengali
history through the novels of Saradindu Bandopadhyay have created a
desire among many to read again. For quite a few of the participants
who were condemned by circumstances to remain away from Bengali
literature and culture, the adda was a way to pick up the lost threads
and return to Tagore, Bankim, Sarat or Bibhutibhushan, Tarashankar,
Bonoful, Sukumar Ray, Leela Majumdar and even to our very own
Mangalkavya. Many of the participants have taken to writing in Bengali
again, trying to regain a lost proficiency in the language. The addas help
the participants regain a sense of pride in the Bengali heritage and
reckon the same with the respect that such a rich culture duly deserves.
And not that the addas were always about matters Bengali, which again
is an outstanding feature of Bangaliyana itself. Most agreed that Ohetuks
addas were addictive and while there often were erudite speakers, the
addas had attentive and eager listeners too. In the world of social media
and ever growing loneliness of the individual, the adda seems to be an
island of social exchange of ideas and thoughts; it may be the hope
against the all-consuming alienation that humanity is sinking into.
Listening has become more important than ever before.
Ohetuk Adda has rarely missed a month, but having said that, there
have been a few unavoidable gaps. There was the mention of a
particularly uncanny coincidence when on one dry summer morning the
adda was lauding the rains with poetry, songs and clips from famous
films, the first rains of the season descended heavily after the adda.
The Ohetuk addas have been careful to avoid gastronomic frills
and thrills and usually only tea or cold drinks are served with nimkis and
cookies. The 100th adda made a little compromise with mouthwatering
vegetable and fish chops and sandesh washed down with lemonade.
The 100th adda was a bit of everything, well researched pieces on the
idea of adda, reminiscences, songs from Ramprasad, Lalon and Tagore,
storytelling and poetry recitation in a spirit of celebrating the great journey
of Ohetuk and its journal Hindol from what began in small ways as
personal sojourns of the founding members.
- as reported by Susmita Dasgupta
* * *

|, 1424
24

What a beautifully written piece! Congratulations, Susmita !

And what an achievement ! To have sustained this for 9 years !
and made it one of the very distinctive institutions of Delhi !
Thank you, and all good wishes for the next decade !
Narayani Gupta
Delhi
As far as my journey is concerned, it was a path that I did not even
consciously choose. In fact it was something that I could not have
possibly conceived a decade ago. And I have many people to thank for
having seen possibilities in the journey. And I must thank the members
of Team Ohetuk, past and present, as well as the many Friends of
Ohetuk, who have spoilt me completely with their indulgence. A lot of
people have gained from being associated with Ohetuk, the most
important benefit being the many wonderful people that we have come
to know in the process. For me, it was the opening up of a new world
altogether.
With best wishes,
Nandan Dasgupta
Delhi
Dear Team Ohetuk,
I attended my first Ohetuk adda last Sunday on 7th May. I had been
receiving mails about previous addas but really was not in a position to
attend. But they intrigued me. What was it like? Who were the ones
who attended? A high degree of intellectualism I did expect but what
else? Well this Sunday I saw what else. It was warmth and friendliness,
relevant information, thought provoking ideas, enormous talent (music,
elocution, recitation) in perfectly unassuming people. What struck me
was this drawing-room adda was so well structured and disciplined
whereas the addas that were being described are sometimes quite
chaotic with digressions and regressions and often an explosion of
emotions. Naturally we could not have that here. Malabikadis delicious
chops n sandesh served with so much care, Ajanta n Mashimas
hospitality, Maitreyee Sens competent anchoring and above all Nandans
attentiveness and enthusiasm made it a rather memorable experience
for me. Long live Ohetuk Adda.
Mahasweta Sengupta
Delhi

|, 1424
 25

Kudos to the Adda. This is really a highly commendable effort

by all the members, especially the founding ones. Best wishes for further
growth, increased membership and lively participation for many many
years to come.
Jayanta Gupta
New Jersey

In fact, I feel that everyone who has encountered ohetuk.adda will

feel grateful to have something so interesting and elevating to be involved
withhow MUCH nicer than the common social media magazines
that serve to titillate all the demeaning tendencies in human nature!
All the best, always! May your tribe increase!
Purnima Toolsidass
Kolkata

Unbelievable achievement! We started many an Adda here in West

Bengal in the vicinity of Kolkata but could not sustain it till the 50th.
Over there in Delhi what you continue to do with a standard unparallelled
literary flavor has been of great value indeed.
Anindyakanti Sinha
Kolkata

I am a silent member of your adda who reads and enjoys. For this
100th session of Adda I just couldnt remain silent. You are doing
something great. Hope you would continue to do so. Wish you all the
best.
Samita Basu
Kolkata

Congratulations on the 100th adda and the exclusive publication

HINDOL.
Anjan Sarkar
Delhi
Congratulations to Ohetuk Adda for completing 100 sessions of
their addas. May the journey continue with many such gatherings.
Debjani Sengupta
Delhi

|, 1424
26

Dear Nandan-da,
Congratulations! 100th Session on Bangla literature based adda in
Delhi , a big thing indeed. I extend my heartiest thanks and regards to
specially you, Mrs. Dasgupta, Ajanta-di, Masima, Maitreyi-masi,
Malobikadi and of course all the regular attendees to make it a grand
success.
Thoroughly enjoying all the sessions and getting enriched after each
adda.
Thanking you for taking all the trouble and wish all the best for
coming days.
With regards
Soma Bose

My introduction to Ohetuk Adda is quite recent but I appreciate the

zest for discussion, information and just fun, the delight of speaking,
listening and interacting. This is a sign of being not only human but the
interconnectedness that brings together people, ideas and thoughts.
Rina Dass
Kolkata

Congratulations Nandan, for initiating and sustaining something that

brings meaning and recreation to yourself and now to so many others.
Prithviswar Sen
Delhi

Living in Hyderabad, I have never had the opportunity to attend

any of the Ohetuk Adda sessions, though I keep reading the interesting
reports sent after each session. The superb article on the 100 Ohetuk
Adda meets underscores what a wonderful thing you have got going.
Congratulations!
Meena Gupta
Hyderabad

Congratulations to Ohetuk on this milestone! I look forward to joining

the adda every time I can, when I visit Delhi. I cherish the times I have
attended with my late mother who used to be an avid discussant when
she attended. Literary addas are so much of not only being a bengali,

|, 1424
 27

but a human. In New York where I live, book clubs where people meet
over books and food, are quite popular. One good piece of news I heard
recently is that the sales of printed books are going up as compared to
eBooks. Just as people need the tangible experience of holding a book
in their hands while reading, I think they need a place to discuss what
thoughts they had reading the book, how they felt, etc...
And the topics that Ohetuk chooses are so close to ones heart!
Shahana Sen
New York

i am happy to add my outsiders voice to this chorus of praise

occasioned by your reaching the magic number 100. i dont follow
what you folks are doing as assiduously as i should, because i am
overwhelmed by professional and other commitments and i hardly ever
visit delhi, but i read the email threads (and hindol_ too) with pleasure
and profit, and i am pleased that such a sophisticated level of discussion
has been maintained with such continuity and care. i hope you can
sustain it. it is certainly worth sustaining.
ages ago, a poet wrote ... -
words worth remembering. 100 is indeed a magic number.
Probal Dasgupta
Kolkata

Artist : Chittaranjan Pakrashi

|, 1424
28

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|, 1424
 65

Biyer Jogad
Satyabikash Bhattacharya
Ananda Publishers Private
Limited
1988
Pages: 93
Price: Rs. 15/-

A Practical Manual
Vanishing Customs
Kalyani Dutta, Delhi

There was a time when every Bengali family could draw upon the
experience and knowledge of several senior ladies on the occasion of
weddings. It was common to see an elderly matron standing at the
elbow of the brides mother, conducting intricate performance of rituals.
These days the number of expatriate Bengali families keeps expanding.
A marriage may take place in Chennai or Chicago; suddenly there is
need of information regarding the performance of a Bengali Hindu
wedding. The slim book under discussion seeks to fulfil the niche
requirement in those eventualities.
The wedding in human societies is a moment of high celebration.
Dance, music, laughter and humour in the remotest corners of the
world-surround the nuptials. Vedic rituals remain the same for all Hindus
in all regions of India, such as the seven perambulations around the fire,
exchange of garlands, the Vedic mantras. North Indian weddings with
the caparisoned horse and wild dancing are unmatched for pomp and
show. But of late, in serials and films, the quaint Bengali lok achars,
generating much hilarity, being visually interesting, are adopted
frequently.
The writer Satyabikash Bhattacharya is a scion of an illustrious

|, 1424
66

family, famed as gang ferano bamun [river turning Brahmins] ever

since an ancestor by his spiritual force made a river swirl away from a
village. Satyabikash realised the need for a practical manual at the time
of his daughters wedding. The family matriarchs came to his aid. A
senior management expert, a doyen amongst Indian corporate leaders,
brought all his skill and meticulous management practices to bear in this
book.
A kind of listomania is seen in Biyer Jogad. Most of us are
familiar with innumerable lists or Fordos which are generated during
all, at least in Bengali households, religious ceremonies, the one for
weddings being mind boggling. Gifts, shopping, food, guests all require
lists. The priests then proffer long lists. On the Contents page Satyabikash
has 60 items.
He begins at the very beginning the auspicious day for the
marriage. The description of the holy hour is appropriately poetic:
Bibaho logno At the hour when the west turns red and is obscured by
dust from returning cow herds, and you glimpse the first star, that is the
godhuli hour. At this hour, neither unfavourable planets, stars, nor day of
the week can harm.
The writer provides formats for listing. Many of the items are of a
financial nature. There is an estimate of total expenses, but in other
places, files, book to record expenses, stamps, need for loose change, 5
silver coins etc., nothing escapes the writers attention. Several
ceremonies, occasions for joy and feasting, precede the wedding day.
Both the groom and the bride have their bachelors party, called
"Aiburobhat" in Bengali. Satyabikash persists in his helpful endeavour
to the days after the marriage is over. Only after the return visit of the
new couple to the brides house and the puja there has been accomplished,
does he relinquish his duties.
One interesting feature of the book is a custom that has almost
vanished. This is the printing for distribution among guests of Biyer
Poddo. Generally printed on thin pink or yellow paper, these were lines
addressed by mostly doting grandmothers or grandfathers. One cannot
really expect a very high quality of poetry. Influence of Tagores style is
dominant, natural images are common - moon, flowers, breeze. Some
interesting examples played with the names of the bride and groom. For
instance on the marriage of Botokrishno Botobyal with Indulekha
Bhattacharya, the grooms elder sister wrote:

|, 1424
 67

Sir sir kanpe sorome hiati

Nuton diner sure
Indulekhar spondito alo
Pushpo jibon pure
[Her shy heart shivers in tune with the new day/
in the light of the moonbeam flowers fill her life]
and
Eso nobobodhu, eso kalyani
Oyi Pulakboroni
Jyotsna baruni boron koriche
Hou Krishno ghoroni
[Come new bride, Come Kalyani
o image of joy
the moonlight welcomes you
adorn your Krishnas home]
A delightful doggerel has been penned by three siblings of the bridal
couple, titled Didir biyete ki ki holo:
Didir biyer kotha holo
Gota pachek ghotok elo
Ghotki elo ponero sholo
Pan chibolo , misti khelo
Patro sobai khujte gelo
[Didi was to be married they said
Matchmakers arrived five male, fifteen female
They chewed pan, gorged on sweets
and set off to find a groom]
This reviewer has last seen such a poem when her aunt distributed
her poem on the marriage of her granddaughter about twenty years ago
in Delhi.
This gem of a book was discovered amongst the books of The
Bengali Club, Kashmere Gate Library. Such are the discoveries which
reward a book lover.
How can we forget Rabindranath, who peeps into every corner of
Bangaliyana? It appears he had composed an invitation for his intimate
friends on his own wedding, calling it the marriage of his Poromatmiyo
(close relative) Robindranath Thakur. And signed it as Onugoto, Shri
Robindronath Thakur!

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68

Alokparna Das
Delhi

Raj Kahini: History &

Myth as Childrens Literature

These are testing times for writers and artistes, particularly those who
deal with history and myths. Rajput history and legends, for instance,
have been in news recently, thanks to some political outfits and their
violent protests at film sets and their demands of rewriting history and
renaming roads. With regional politics taking centre stage during such
situations, one can only wonder what kind of response or reaction
Abanindranath Tagore would have received had he published Raj Kahini
in todays India. Raj Kahini, a collection of nine stories from medieval
Rajputana, was written by Abanindranath for children way back in 1909.
That Abanindranath Tagore or Aban Thakur, as he is popularly known
in Bengal, (1871-1951) was the founder of the Bengal School of Indian
art and a nephew of Rabindranath Tagore is well known. However,
many outside Bengal are unaware that Abanindranath was also a writer
and just as his paintings tell stories, his stories paint images. His two
artistic selves the writer and the painter merge together giving his
thoughts and works a completeness.
Aban Thakur was fascinated by history and myths: be it the Krishna
legend or stories associated with the Buddha or Mughal history his
colours were a means of storytelling and his words unravelled meanings
of myths that lie intertwined with history. His readers often get the
feeling of watching a large collage. His sense of colour contrast and
blending of different colours turned his written text into a painting.
Being an artist was an added advantage for his storyteller self,
particularly in the context of children as readers.

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 Raj Kahini 69

By the time he wrote Raj Kahini for

children, Abanindranath had already painted
Banga Mata to protest the Partition of
Bengal. Abanindranaths iconic painting
represents an ascetic and non-sectarian
spirituality. The Swadeshi Movement that
followed the 1905 Partition of Bengal rode
on the wings of two identity discourses
one of an imagined regional Bengali
community proud of its tradition and the
other of the nation. Culture and nationalism
have always been close allies; they
constantly service each other in the project
of manufacturing identities real as well
as imaginary. In Bengal, a revolutionary
movement with an extremist component
surfaced along with a variety of cultural resistance and native solidarity.
The Banga Mata painting was used in a procession to rally support
towards the revocation of the Partition. It was perhaps the first political
image to personify the region as mother. Very soon, the region got
extended to nation and left the enduring label of Mother India or Bharat
Mata on this image. Abanindranaths mother icon stands in a misty
golden light, in golden-brown complexion and gerua robe, in a state
between emergence and recession, dream and waking. She is a yogini.
In her four hands, she holds anna, vastra, siksha and diksha physical,
material, intellectual and spiritual boons. But she is not about dry austerity,
the image retains the rasa of a freshly blown lotus and exemplifies
Rabindranaths conviction that true spirituality blossoms in beauty without
excess and without maiming the flesh.
Coming back to Raj Kahini, the character of Padmini (her story or
the way it is represented was at the centre of controversy recently)
figures in two stories in one she is the protagonist and in another, she
is a minor character, acting like a guiding light. She is, of course, the
epitome of beauty. Abanindranaths detailed description of Padminis
reflection in the mirror can be taken as an example of his picturesque
language. In fact, his description of Padmini seems to be a portrait
rather than mere narration. But Aban Thakurs Padmini is not just a

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70 Raj Kahini

beautiful queen. In the story, where

she is the protagonist, as Alauddin
Khiljis siege of Chittorgarh goes on
for months and then years, Padmini
is even ready to sacrifice herself to
avoid the ensuing bloodbath. She is
also a strategist who saves her
husband and brings him back from
captivity. Then as the men of the
royal family almost reconcile to
defeat and submission, she appears
before them vision-like, dressed up
as the patron deity of the kingdom,
inspiring them, for as the goddess
nothing but sacrifice and blood
would satisfy her. And finally, she Cover design by Geeta Dharmarajan
for translation by Kalyani Dutta -
takes the lead in jauhar, preparing published by Katha, 2004
both men and women for the final
battle. In the other story, Padmini is the agent of reconciliation between
the ruler and the ruled. In the History of Medieval India, Satish Chandra
has pointed out how the Rajput organisation of society had both
advantages and disadvantages. One advantage was the sense of
brotherhood which we see in stories like Goho. But the same trait
made it difficult to maintain discipline among them; feuds continued for
generations. But their basic weakness was their tendency to form
exclusive groups, each claiming superiority over the others, as seen in
the story, Chanda. Padmini, as the child-less queen, looks after the
subjects as her children and this is evident in her letter to a village
chieftain urging him to agree to the wedding between his daughter and
the crown prince.
In popular culture Padmini has been mostly depicted as a very
desirable woman. Malik Muhammad Jaisi took her portrayal to a spiritual
level in his Padmavat (1540). Amir Khusrau, who accompanied Alauddin
Khilji during his Chittor expedition in 1303, did not mention Padmini in
his Tarikh-i-Alai, though he said that the Khilji Sultan was like King
Solomon and Sheba or Bilquis was in Chittor. Whether Padmini actually
existed or not is a debate best left to historians. For me, Aban Thakurs

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 Raj Kahini 71

Padmini is Motherland personified the beauty that inspires sacrifice.

In the backdrop of the countrys struggle for freedom, Abanindranaths
Raj Kahini talks about valour, brotherhood and a fight for rights through
the characters of Rajput history and legend, and among his heroes, it is
Padmini who directly demands sacrifice by repeating main bhookha
hoon (I am hungry for sacrifice).
An interesting aspect of Abanindranaths writing is his use of simple
present tense, which in my observation is the authors conscious choice,
not only showing the immediacy of the incidents, but helping in creating
the visual in the young readers mind. It is worth noting that, while the
painter Abanindranath became famous right after his early works, the
writer Abanindranath gained popularity much later, though he started
writing almost at the same time when he started painting (first illustrations
were published in 1891, and first writing, Shakuntala in 1895).
Raj Kahini occupies a unique place in Bangla literature. It is well-
known that the Bengali language is extremely rich in childrens literature.
One main reason for this is that the major writers in this language and
who are known for their adult writings have not hesitated to write for
children. This has been so right from the infancy of childrens literature
in Bengali from the time of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, considered to
be the father of Bengali grammar. It has always been an acknowledged
fact that writing for children is no easy matter; that it needs real talent
to be able to communicate to children successfully and capture their
interest. Whether its a scholar and social reformer like Vidyasagar, a
great poet like Rabindranath, a great artist like Abanindranath, a great
scientist like Jagadish Chandra Bose or later, a film-maker like Satyajit
Ray, everyone, without exception, wrote for children in addition to their
other writings. Incidentally, Ray also designed the cover of Raj Kahini.
It was with the coming of the British Missionaries that the first
Bengali printing press was set up at Serampur. They established the
School Book Society in 1817 and their main objective was to bring out
textbooks for children which had strong religious overtones. They also
brought out the first Bengali monthly magazine for children in 1818
called Digdarshan. Between 1820 and 1891 several English books
were translated into Bengali by a group of translators who set up the
Banga Bhashanubad Samaj. These included stories like Robinson Crusoe
and Lambs Tales from Shakespeare.

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72 Raj Kahini

Three early stalwarts in the field of childrens literature were

Jogindranath Sarkar, Upendra Kishore Roy Choudhury and Dakshina
Ranjan Mitra Mazumdar. Childrens literature comprised folk tales, fairy
tales, fantasies and stories of animals. The ideas of childhood that are
generated through a reading of Bengali childrens books of the 19th and
the early 20th centuries illustrate a somewhat uneasy blend of the
indigenous and the foreign, the old and the new social orders, and a
combination of the traditional and the reformed world views.
A contemporary of Abanindranath, Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar
was a celebrated writer of Bengali fairy tales. In fact, the publication of
Raj Kahini coincided with Dakshinaranjans Thakurdadar Jhuli
(Grandfathers bag of stories), which was a kind of sequel to his earlier
Thakumar Jhuli (Grandmothers bag of stories, 1907).
As far as historical fiction in Bangla is concerned, the list is long:
from Shashichandra Dutta, Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, Bankim Chandra
Chattopadhyay, Ramesh Chandra Dutta, Harisadhan Mukhopadhyay,
Jadunath Bhattacharya (who wrote about Bengali heroes), Rakhaldas
Bandopadhyay (who was a historian) and later to Sharadindu
Bandopadhyay, whose historical novels are as popular as his Byomkesh
stories. However, in many ways Aban Thakur was different as he chose
to blend literature with history and myth, keeping in mind young readers
and gave it a fairy tale-like texture without trivialising facts. He modified
history to suit his narrative as well as the expectations of his young
readers, and for many Bengalis, who have read Raj Kahini in school, it
remains their primary source of Rajput history and myth. Abanindranaths
work is a valuable evidence of how history and myth as childrens
literature has had a great impact on generations of Bengalis, particularly
the way they perceive Rajasthan and its legends.
Did Abanindranath omit and construct history and myth of a region
for the young readers of another area?
History, as we are taught, is a representation of the past based on
information that we had gathered from the past. In the case of colonies
such as India, colonial scholars claimed that they were writing history
of the colony since there was supposedly an absence of historical writing
in cultures of the colony. However, as historians like Romila Thapar
point out, past does not remain static. Also, as historian Farhat Hasan
says, academic writing of history needs to engage with popular narratives

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 Raj Kahini 73

instead of completely dismissing them. Abanindranath based his stories

mostly on James Tods work, which were more popular narratives than
well-researched history. The first story in Raj Kahini, for instance, is
about Shiladitya of Vallabhipur. While historians like G H Ojha disagree
with Tods Shiladitya story, stating that there were six kings in Gujarat
by the name of Shiladitya, they have ignored both popular narrative as
well a copper plate grant of Vallabhipurs last king Shiladitya dating
back to AD 766. His reign ended with the sack of Vallabhipur in AD
769 (just as in Aban Thakurs story), but by then his Guhila kingdom
was well-established in south east Rajasthan. Thus, Aban Thakurs
Shiladitya seems to be a historical character.
To cite omission in history in Raj Kahni, one can go back to
Padmini. As per historical records, Alauddin stormed Chittor in 1303
because Rana Ratan Singh had refused permission to his armies to
march to Gujarat through Mewar territories. In Aban Thakurs story
the Delhi Sultan wants to capture Chittor for Padmini. Padminis husband
is named Bhim Singh in the story and he is not the ruler but regent. His
nephew is the king of Chittor.
Leaving the debate of history versus myth aside, one can look
at Raj Kahini as a collection of stories that uphold desirable values for
young readers. Take the story of Bappaditya: A young Bappa marries a
Solanki princess, they are separated and their search for each other
goes on till death. In the meantime, Bappa marries both Hindu and
Muslim princesses. As in a typical romance, in death Bappa is united
with his childhood love. This union is also symbolic unification of diverse
groups to form a new community that can look beyond a single exclusive
identity, and is inclusive in every sense of the word. Abanindranaths
Raj Kahini in this context is nationalist historical writing packaged
as childrens literature, simple words that create visuals, fairy tale-like
myths where prince and princess do not just live happily ever after but
also strive to achieve a harmony that unites, heals, and uplifts self and
soul.
Works Consulted
Banerji, Debashish. The Alternate Nation of Abanindranath Tagore. New Delhi: Sage.
2010
Chandra, Satish. History of Medieval India. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan. 2007
Hooja, Rima. A History of Rajasthan. New Delhi: Rupa, 2006

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74

Ajanta Dutt
Delhi

Gods of Weather,
War and Womanizing

Gods of thunder and lightning, gods of cloud and rainboth Zeus of the
Greek pantheon and Indra of the Hindu pantheon are mighty gods who
rule the heavens and are more alike than any other gods of these two
ancient civilizations. Whether the similarities stem from the fact that
they had the same ancestral creators or whether their legends came
from the Indo-European people who later came to the Indus Valley is
yet under debate. It is believed however that the ancient, or rather the
pagan religions were born from fear. Apprehension of natural elements
that primordial man could not quite explain caused him and his tribe to
sink upon their bended knees and pray. Storms, forest fires, rain, the
intense suneven the rise of the sun and its disappearance at the end
of the day must have given rise to a lot of imaginative stories among the
ancient folks. These stories which we now call myths were transferred
from generation to generation during nomadic wanderings of tribes in
search of food, until these elements of nature got names, sometimes
various names. Thus we can explain the similarities between two of the
most powerful deities of the Greek and Hindu pantheonsZeus who
resides on Mount Olympus in Thessaly and Indra who reigns over the
heavens from Mount Meru, the remote Swargalok. They both hold the
thunderbolt in their hands as their main weapons; both terror and
generosity are attributed to them for the rain that they send forth can
bring floods that destroy, but also moisture that rejuvenates the earth.
Birth of the Gods: Certain myths that surround their births are
quite the same as though the same storyteller had woven the common
facts into varied fiction. Cronos of the Greek myths apparently discovered

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 Gods of Weather, War and Womanizing 75

a prophecy that stated that he would be overthrown by one of his own

offspring. He decided to avoid this disaster by swallowing each child
that was born until his wife, Rhea decided to beg her mother-in-law
Gaia for help. Rhea secretly gave birth to her sixth child Zeus, and
immediately sent the baby into exile to save him. When he was a full-
grown male, he returned to free his siblings and overthrow their father.
The three brothers Zeus, Poseidon and Hades divided the skies, the
oceans and the underworld among themselves and formed the primary
trinity whereby Homer and Hesiod described and assigned hierarchy to
the Olympian Gods in their poetry.
Although most sources simply state that Indra was the son of Aditi
and Rishi Kashyapa, a more elaborate myth says that his birth came as
the closure to the Ice Age and is recorded in Hymn 18, Mandala IV in
the Rig Veda. Goddess Earth, Prithvi bore him in her womb for thousands
of months because she considered him a disgraceful secret. She passed
on the embryo to the waters of River Kusava where he grew up mighty
and strong. Intermingled into this basic tale are the details that the foetus
grew to full size in the womb and then forced himself out of her side; he
knew the time had come to kill Vrtra who had imprisoned all the waters
of the earth in its coils. As Indra forced his way out, he confronted his
father Vyamsa who wanted to kill him. But Indra used his thunderbolt
Vajra, and smashed his fathers head, and therefore like Zeus vanquished
his father. Then Indra drank a great deal of Soma-rasa (the heavenly
ambrosia) and struck Vrtra. The Gods had tried but failed; Indra
conquered the serpent monster with the 99-coils, releasing the waters
to the people of the earth. In another version, Indra is said to have
killed his father Tvashta with the help of his mother Aditi.
In a different creation myth, Indra and his brother Agni issued forth
from the mouth of primordial God or giant, Purusha while his other body
parts gave birth to the rest of the Hindu divinity. Indra is often visualized
as the twin brother of Agni, another Vedic deity. Max Muller states
"Thou Agni, art Indra, a bull among all beings. Thou art the Brahman This is an
echo of a verse from Rig Veda (2.1.3). Theosophists have also claimed
that the trinity of Vedic brother-gods was represented by Indra-Agni-
Pushan. Although this religious trinity was replaced by Brahma-Vishnu-
Maheshwar in the Puranas, Lord Indras popularity was certainly on
the wane. V.S. Naravane writes, The evolution of Greek myths seems to have

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76 Gods of Weather, War and Womanizing

taken place in a comparatively brief period of four or five centuries. In the work of
Homer and Hesiod, both of whom probably lived in the eighth century B.C., the Greek
pantheon acquired its definitive form and myths remained substantially the same. In
India, on the contrary the position of the gods changed radically from age to age. This
can be seen quite easily if we compare Vedic myths with those of the Puranas.
Zeus and Indra are anthropomorphic Gods and seen as protectors
of the human race. Their mighty physique, thick locks of hair and beard
are described similarly in poetry and sculpture. Both Gods are addicted
to drinkIndra to his soma-rasa and Zeus to his divine nectar. Again,
amrita and ambrosia are close in sound and meaning. Apart from the
human form in which they were depicted, these gods display human
passions of love, jealousy and anger coupled with immense courage
and valour. Research shows that Aryan hymns were the core structure
for Celtic, Greek and Persian myths. In fact the Nordic God Thor has
also been likened with Zeus and Indra; the day of worship for all three
Gods is Thursday which comes from the name, Thor. Dyaus
Pita in Vedic hymns is akin phonetically to the Greek Zeus Paterin.
Dyaus, in Vedic texts, may have been replaced by his son Indra, and
similarly a later Zeus may have replaced the original Zeus.
Gods of War: Both are heroic Gods. Indras power is retold in the
Rig Veda when he beheads Dadhyanc who reveals Tvashtras mead
(a weapon) to the Ashwins, makes his lethal weapon
from Dadhyancs bones, kills Trishira (the three headed demon),
slays the ninety-nine coiled Vrtra with his thunderbolt, and releases the
waters for the mortals. Zeus too kills the giants that had sprung from
the blood of the mutilated Uranus. These monstrous sons had legs like
serpents. Typhoeus or Typhon of the Greek mythology is a monster
with three human torsos combined in the triple body of a dragon. After
a difficult struggle with the monster, Zeus was finally able to overpower
it. It is to be noted that the mystic number three appears again and
again in the Hellenic and the Hindu myths. The air is Zeus, Zeus earth, and
Zeus the heaven, Zeus all that is, and what transcends them all affirms Greek
playwright Aeschylus.
These Gods were omnipotent and could see into everything. They
could also assume different shapes. In different episodes of
the Mahabharata, Indra assumed the form of an eagle, a bird, a sheep
and a jackal. Once he became as tiny as a seed to hide under a lotus. In
Greek myths, Zeus disguises himself in the shape of a swan (to

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 Gods of Weather, War and Womanizing 77

seduce Leda), golden light (to impregnate Danae), a white bull (to seduce
Europa), a little cuckoo (to hide in his sister/wife Heras clothes during
a rainstorm). Indra overpowers the water-streams disguised as an
eagleand Zeuss bird is the eagle. Indras vahana is of course his
four-tuskered white elephant, Airavat who was born from the churning
waves of the ocean.
Forces of Good and Evil: The Olympian Gods versus the Titans
whom Zeus vanquished in war represent good and evil forces,
respectively. Just as in the Hindu mythology of the Devas and the Asuras
both of whom were fathered by Rishi Kashyapa, the Hellenic Gods and
the Titans were born of the same father, Cronos. In both sets of myths,
the Gods and their evil antitheses are in constant struggle, and often one
defeats the other by resorting to clever tricks. It is strange that the
Asuras and the Titans are always condemned by the human race, and
the Gods are always worshipped faithfully for there is often little to
distinguish them regarding moral issues. Yet, men are always punished
for very small misdemeanours by the Gods, while women are often
seduced and violated as in the famous cases of Leda and the Swan and
Ahalya and Indra. Thus Gloucester remarks in King Lear, As flies to
wanton boys are we to th gods, /They kill us for their sport. (4.i. 36-7)
Indra is often considered the most malicious God of the Hindu
pantheon and his tricking Karna during the Kurukshetra War in order to
save Arjuna feeds this belief. He knows that Karna never refuses anyone
a gift if they come to him during his morning rituals. So Indra comes to
Karna disguised as a Brahman and asks for his Kavach-kundala, gifts
of Surya-dev that were embedded in Karnas body. Although Karna
recognizes Indra and knows he wants these so that Arjuna can kill
Karna, the latter does not refuse the God this gift. In a moment of
remorse perhaps Indra offers Karna his Shakti-astra but adds the rider
that he can use it only once. On the battlefield, Karna is made to use it
against Bhima's son, Ghatotkach which places him at his most vulnerable
before Arjuna later. The myths therefore abound with examples where
the heroes are often morally greater than the Gods.
Another reminder is the story of Asura King Mahabali who ruled
his kingdom so well that there was no corruption or deceit therein. The
Gods were jealous of such happiness, so Indra and the other Devas
called upon Vishnu to end this benevolent reign. Vishnu came to earth

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as Vamana avatar and tricked Mahabali into the depths of the

underworld. He did, however, allow the Asura King one last wish; that
is, letting him visit his subjects once every year for evermore. Even
today the people of Kerala celebrate the festival of Onam to honour the
return of Mahabali.
An equivalent story in Greek mythology is that of Prometheus who
stole the sacred fire from the Gods and gave it to human beings. These
men found that with the fire came knowledge and enlightenment. Zeus
was so enraged by this incident that he punished Prometheus by chaining
him to Mount Caucasus. Every day an eagle would swoop down on
Prometheus and peck at his liver; but miraculously every night, his liver
would be completely restored. Finally, Herculesalso a son of Zeus
killed the mighty bird and freed Prometheus. Promethues Unbound is
a lyrical drama written in 1820 by romantic poet, P.B. Shelley to celebrate
the glory of this Greek hero.
Indra was a deity in northeastern Asia Minor, as seen in the
inscriptions on the Boghaz-ki clay tablets dated to about 1400 BCE.
This tablet, besides mentioning a treaty, is significant because of four
name: Mi-it-ra, U-ru-w-na, In-da-ra and Na-sa-at-ti-ia. These have
been deciphered as Mitra, Varuna, Indra and Nasatya-Asvin of the
Vedic pantheon. In the Avestan pantheon however, Indra is visualised
as a demon along with Naonhaitya. He is Andra the giant who opposes
truth. Later he became an important deity in the Buddhist, Cham and
Chinese religions. The Aryans of course looked upon him as a supreme
god, the protector of the Kshatriyas and their military aristocracy. He is
generous to his followers bringing rainstorms to end periods of drought,
and he appeared in times of war to give the warriors divine weapons by
which they would remain unconquered on the battlefield. There are
about 250 hymns in the Rig Veda dedicated to Indra:
Let me tell you the manly deeds of Indra, which he first accomplished,
bolt-weaponed,/He slew the serpent, opened up waters, cleft in twain
the belly of mountains,/He slew the serpent on the mountain, with
heavenly bolt made by Tvastar,/Like lowing cattle downward sped the
waters, then flowed to the ocean. (Rig Veda, Hymn 1:32)
Mythologists Oldenburg and Hillebrandt explain symbolism in the
gathering clouds and cyclonic winds to be Vrtra, who controls the waters
of the earth with its 99 coils, thus perpetuating the ice age. Indra with
his bolts of lightning nourishes the parched famine lands with rain; thus,

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the colder climes of central Asian countries give way to the benevolent
presence of Indra in the warmer lands of India. Another metaphorical
interpretation of the thunderclouds is that they are the divine cattle and
Indra is clashing with the demons who are always trying to steal the
celestial cows.
In the well-known fight against Vala, Indra quickly wins. Vala
thought he could boldly steal the gods herd of sacred cattle. Vala cleverly
hid his prize in the caverns of the mountain, but was caught by Indras
servants, the Maruts or Rudras , the lesser-known storm gods. One
thunderbolt from Indra was enough to crack the mountain in two and
release the sacred herd who then were safely escorted back to their
heavenly precincts.
Vrtrahan, the slayer of Vrtra, is often depicted with various
weapons besides the Vajra or the thunderbolt; He carries the chakra
or discus, an ankusa or elephant-goad, and tanka or axe. He also
holds the sankho or the conch and in Buddhist mythology, Indras
thunderbolt is a diamond sceptrethe Vajrayan.
The Womanizing Gods: Zeus and Indra have also been compared
because of their exploits with the opposite sexboth goddesses and
mortal women. In this area, Zeus probably has a larger number of
seductions to his credit than Indra and he often dons disguises because
his sister and wife Hera is very jealous of her rivals. She often tried to
punish him and his lovers too. Many of Zeus seductions have been
portrayed in Western art and paintings like his relationship with Greek
goddesses Metis, Themis, Mnemosyne and Demeter, and then mortal
women like Alcmene, Semele, Io, Europa, Danae, Leda, Leto and the
Trojan prince, Ganymede. The last became his cup-bearer. Indras
principal wife is Indrani who is also called Sachi; the others are Sena,
Prasaha and Vilistega. His major seductions are Apala, Tilottama and
Ahalya.
A close analogy can be drawn between Greek Alcmene and Hindu
Ahalya. When Alemene's husband, Amphitryon went out to avenge the
death of her brothers who had been killed by raiders of cattle, he
accidentally killed her father. She was so enraged that although she
went into exile with him, she refused to sleep with him until he had
atoned for their deaths. He had no course left, but to gather a group of
men and go into battle. Zeus was waiting for this opportunity to make

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Alcmene his mistress, and he came to her in the guise of her husband.
She conceived a child with him who turned out to be the great hero,
Hercules. When Amphitryon returned the following night, he too slept
with his wife and she bore him the son Iphicles, Hercules, twin. The
story is also very similar to that of Spartas princess Leda who in fact
bore a double set of twin babiesClytemnestra and Castor to her
husband; Helen and Polydeuces to Zeus. Incidentally, Alcmene was
Zeuss last mortal mistress.
In the story of the Ahalya, Indra hides near Gautamas ashram and
watches him go for his early morning ablutions. He takes the form of
the Brahman and goes inside to seduce his beautiful wife. In some
versions Ahalya guessed what had happened, but did not stop the man
who was violating her. Unfortunately for them, Gautama returned quickly,
and cursed them both. Thus sprang up on Indra 1000 vulvae or as some
versions retell, his own manhood fell off and had to be replaced by
those of a ram. He ran away to hide for many months which did not suit
the rest of the Gods who needed his help in sorting out their daily
problems. So seeking Brahmas help, they reduced his shame. Instead
of the Sahasrayoni God he became the One with the Thousand Eyes.
Ahalya had also been cursed by her ascetic husband; she was turned to
stone. Her curse would only be broken when Vishnu in the form of
Rama would touch her with his foot, and she could rise up complete
again. It is to be noted that in the Greek myths many such children as
Hercules or Helen are born as semi-divine beings. In Hindu mythology,
semi-divine children are rarer, although Indras most famous mortal,
invincible son is Arjuna.
Just like Hera watched over Zeus quite jealously, so did Indrani
with Indra. The latter had a pet ape called Vrishkapi, and Indrani became
amorous with this creature to teach her husband a lesson. He drove
away the ape but was soon discovered in the arms of Vrishkapis wife
by the ape himself. The two acts of wrong wiped away the ill-feeling
between them, and they became close once again.
These Gods need to be remembered, not for their religious
significance in the past, but for what they represented. Zeus symbolises
brightness which is the meaning of the name. He often protected the
weak and the indigent, even sometimes the fugitive. He was the most
worshipped God of Greece, a family God. He was god of the hearth

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 Gods of Weather, War and Womanizing 81

and home (Ephestios), of marriage (Gamelios), of friendship (Philios)

and of the peoples assemblies. Finally he was the protector God of all
Greece the Pan-Hellenic Zeus. Thus says Homer, Proud is the spirit
of Zeusfostered kingstheir honour comes from Zeus, and Zeus,
god of council, loves them.
Indra is not a single God. A day of Brahma is called Kalpa and has
14 Manvantaras and each Manvantara has its own Indra. Thus Indras
will come and go. An Indra must protect his space; an Indra is a title.
Often Indra lost control over the heavens to the demons. So Indra became
watchful, waiting to destroy any man or demon that became too
powerful. Indra saw King Sagar triumph over all kings of the Earth.
When King Sagar decided to organize an Ashwamedh Yagya (horse
sacrifice) that would make him emperor of the earth, Indra stole the
horse and hid it with Sage Kapila, who later burned Sagars army to
ashes. When a hungry young Hanuman leapt up to devour the Sun, it
was Indra who hit him with his Vajra. This angered Vayu, the father of
Hanuman. Indra had to appease his fellow-gods wrath by making
Hanuman immortal.
The names of Yayatis sons and their occurrence in the Rig Veda
lend credence to the fact that once upon a time, people from India must
have gone to Greece for trade or rituals. There must have been land
routes over Afghanistan, Iran and Turkeyinto Greece. There must
also have been common ancestors who told stories and exchanged
legends until two major, overlapping pantheons developed only to be
further embellished by the priests and poets who focused on the Gods
and their similarities. Those were heroic times, when battles were fought
long and hard. And those stories when retold became myths. But the
narrators in the epics remembered that however powerful may be their
Gods of War, they could not save their sons and heroes in the epics.
Thus, Sarpedon, son of Zeus and the favoured Hector of Troy must die
in Homers Iliad; so must Indras son, Arjuna fall on the journey to
Mahaprasthanum in The Mahabharata. Arthur C Clarke makes a
final statement that sets the seal upon questions of faith: Science can
destroy a religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever
demonstrates, so far as I am aware, the non-existence of Zeus or Thor, but they have
few followers now. Thus religions may cease to exist but myths continue.
In them, live the ancient Gods for times yet to come.

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82

Subhadra Sen Gupta

Delhi

In Search of Celestial Trees

Trees, plants, flowers and fruits all play important roles in our myths
and legends. And we have all heard about the kalpataru, the mythical
Tree of Life. It is a wish fulfilling tree we would all love to have in our
back garden. The drawings of a kalpataru show a generic tree with a
broad trunk, leafy branches many kinds of fruits and flowers and colourful
birds perched among the leaves. It is printed on textiles, knotted into
carpets, painted on walls as murals and carved on filigreed marble
screens. It is also a popular name for lotteries, shady chit funds and
suspicious financial companies that promise instant riches.
Kalpataru or kalpavriksha is in fact only one among many trees
that appear in our myths and legends and are inextricably woven into
our religious rituals. A sacred plant or tree can be anything from a
bunyan, bael and peepal to a hibiscus, lotus, coconut or ashok tree. Of
course if you decide to choose a celestial plant for its innate qualities I
would vote for the simple banana. It is the most generous plant of all as
we use every part of it. We bite into the sweet ripe banana, make jhol
with the raw fruit, the flowers are made into delicious mocha dishes
and we chop up the trunk for the chewy thor charchari. Then we serve
it all up on a banana leaf with a pinch of salt and a slice of lemon.
In mythology there are only two gods who officially have a Tree of
Life in their garden. One is the bearded Yahweh, the vengeful gentleman
to be found in the Old Testament. The other is our very own Lord Indra,
commander-in-chief of the army of devas who rules over Swarga and
is the lord of thunder and lightning. Indra has many hymns dedicated to
him in the Rig Veda because he fights the cloud asura called vritra and

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 In Search of Celestial Trees 83

brings us the rains.

As the Bible tells us, the Garden of Eden had two celestial trees
the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. The serpent chose the
fruit of the Tree of Knowledge to tempt Eve and biting into the apple
gave her and Adam the knowledge of good and evil. Fortunately the
first couple of the Bible did not get a chance to taste the fruit of the
Tree of Life or they would have become immortal! And that would
have been an earth-sized headache for poor Yahweh. Before Eve could
go exploring again they were banished and a security guard an angel
bearing a flaming sword, was put on guard over the garden.
In Swarga, the Hindu heaven, located somewhere in the Himalayas,
the celestial trees can be found in Indras personal garden, Nandanvana.
Among them are the Kalpataru, the wish fulfilling tree; the Kalamra, a
mango tree growing on the slopes of Mount Meru whose fruits confer
eternal youth and a flowering tree called Parijat.
The Parijat caused a lot of problems to Indra as the perfume from
its flowers could enchant men and his wife Sachi loved to make garlands
of parijat blossoms. Then one day Lord Krishnas wife Satyabhama
saw the tree and threw a tantrum and the gallant Krishna stole the tree
and carried it back to earth. With Sachi now throwing a fit, Indra attacked
Dwarka and was soundly defeated. If he had only checked with Yahweh
he would have known that celestial trees can be trouble.
The most mysterious and probably hallucinatory of our mythical
trees is the plant called Soma. A drink made from Soma was Indras
favourite tipple as a Rig Vedic hymn sings in tipsy exultation, Have I
been drinking Soma? Our ancient sages thought it was a great brew
and composed 114 hymns in praise of Soma in the Rig Veda. A sage
wrote in raptures, that it was, primeval, all powerful, healing all diseases,
bestower of riches, loved by the gods, even the Supreme being.
Obviously it was composed after imbibing a Soma cocktail.
All the gods and goddesses have their favourite tree, plant, flower
and fruit. The peepal and bunyan are Vishnus trees and his eighth
avatar, Krishna, sat alone and heartbroken under a peepal tree at Prabhas
Patan when he died from a hunters arrow. Shiva is worshipped with
the three leaf bael, dipped in sandalwood paste. For Kali only the scarlet
jaba flowers would do; while the lotus is placed at the feet of Durga and
Saraswati. Sashti who protects children is offered the flowers of the

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84 In Search of Celestial Trees

ashok tree and Shitala needs the antiseptic properties of neem leaves.
The tulsi stands in the courtyard of homes because Lakshmi does
not allow it inside. Both are consorts of Vishnu and they do not get
along. In a mantra the tulsi is described as being lalita badana chandra
suryagni netra with a beautiful body and a glance like the fire of the
sun. She is also Keshava priya. No wonder the imperious Lakshmi
banished her to the courtyard. My grandmother used to take a lighted
brass lamp to the tulsi plant at dusk for the sandhya arati and then leave
the lamp at the foot of the plant, shimmering away in the growing
darkness.
Buddhist legends often have trees woven into their tale. Gautama
Buddhas mother Queen Maya gave birth to him under a flowering
ashoka tree in the forest at Lumbini. Gautama sat on a seat of fresh cut
grass under a peepal tree in Bodh Gaya and gained enlightenment. He
gave his first sermon in a mango grove in Sarnath. Then at the end of
his life, old and ill, he lay down between two sal trees in Kushinagar and
gained nirvana.
If you take your eyes away from your smart phone and look around,
you will discover the beauty of trees all around you. Over a lifetime of
watching squirrels running up and down tree trunks and birds building
their fragile nests, my favourite trees have changed often. First there
was the scarlet gulmohur and then the mellow lemony gold of the amaltas.
I have used peepal leaves as page marks and discovered their delicately
veined remains in the pages of old books. As I sit writing my jade and
money plants are drooping over the terrace wall waiting for the monsoons
and a black and gold butterfly is perched among the curry leaves.
One afternoon I sat under the shade of a spreading neem tree that
stands beside a quirky little palace called Lotus Mahal in Hampi, the
site of the ancient city of Vijayanagar. I was very tired, my feet were
aching from tramping around from dawn, my head was buzzing with all
I had seen and the tree seemed to understand. The breeze went softly
shushing through the leaves as the branches bent and rose with a
questioning whisper. It was as if the tree was checking if I was feeling
better and there was a mellow, refreshing coolness that no air conditioner
can give you. As the afternoon sun dappled the ground around me with
moving spots of gold, I let peace, joy and serenity take over.
That afternoon in Hampi, that neem was my kalpataru.

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