Mela

An updated version of the song I posted last year - Happy Baisakhi :)

The Sarai of Nur Mahal

The Sarai of Nur Mahal was built on the orders of Noor Jahan, one of the wives of Jahangir, the fourth Mughal emperor, and the power behind the throne. It was completed in 1620-21 A.D. Constructed on the old GT road connecting Delhi and Lahore, it seems to be quite well known in Punjab, not least because it is now situated in the middle of the town.

Till a few decades ago, the government school was located inside the sarai, and its bricks were being used to build houses. The Archaeological Department has taken over its maintenance now and while some parts seem incongruously shiny and new compared to the original, it is still a job well done, besides providing a walking space for the people of Nur Mahal.

Western Gate - August 2012

Photograph by Henry Hardy Cole (or possibly Joseph David Beglar) in the 1870s of the Western Gate to the Sarai. Source: http://www.bl.uk/

A view from the tower looking towards the arched gateway, with the town beyond - Photograph by Henry Hardy Cole (or possibly Joseph David Beglar) in the 1870s. Source: http://www.bl.uk/

Alexander Cunningham visited Nur Mahal during his Tour through Punjab in 1878-79 and provides a description of the complex -

"The Sarai is 551 square feet outside, including the octagonal towers at the corner. The western gateway is a double storeyed building faced on the outside with red sandstone from the Fatehpur Sikri quarries. The whole front is divided into panels ornamented with sculpture; but the relief is low and the workmanship coarse. There are angels and fairies, elephants and rhinoceroses, camels and horses, monkeys and peacocks, with men on horseback and archers on elephants. The sides of the gateway are in much better taste, the ornament being limited to foliated scroll-work with birds sitting on the branches. But even in this the design is much better than the execution, as there is little relief. Over the entrance there is a long inscription."

The second inscription on the western gateway consists of six short lines, as follows: 

Cunningham writes that the sarai "is said to have been built by Zakariya Khan, the Nazim of the Subah of Jalandhar, during the reign of Jahangir. His inscription which is cut in sunken letters on the right jamb of the west gatewaty says nothing about the building of the sarai, while the main inscription over the western gateway distinctly states that the sarai was erected by the order of Nur Jahan. I suppose, therefore, that the actual work was superintended by Zakariya Khan, of whom I can learn nothing."

A Zakariya Khan, who was the governor of Punjab, is known in Sikh history for having ordered the mass torture and execution of Sikhs. However, he existed in the early 1700s, much after the construction of the Sarai. It may be that the plaque referring to Zakariya Khan is of a much later date, added to the wall upon his becoming governor and having perhaps renovated the Sarai.*

Cunningam mentions that "There was also a similar gateway on the eastern side, but this is now only a
mass of ruin, and all the stone facing has disappeared. There was also an inscription over this gateway...", which was provided to Cunningham by a local resident:

Cunningham's description of the sarai continued:

"...In the north side of the courtyard there is a masjid [mosque], and in the middle a fine well. On each side there are 32 rooms, each 10 feet 10 inches square, with a verandah in front. In each corner there were three rooms, one large and two small. The Emperor's apartments formed the centre block of the south side, three storeys in height. The rooms were highly finished, but all their beauty is now concealed under the prevailing whitewash. The main room was oblong in shape, with a half-octagon recess on two sides, similar to the large rooms in the corners of the sarai...From this description it will be seen that there was accommodation inside for about 100 people. But the great mass of the Imperial followers found their quarters outside, in an exterior court about 2,000 feet square, some of the walls which were pointed to me in November 1838; all of these have disappeared now."

It's interesting to note that the practice of whitewashing our history and making it disappear isn't new.

Surprisingly well-maintained laws by the Archaeological Department

The mosque and the well in the Sarai

 Looking towards the outer walls of the Sarai with the main gateway at the left of the print - Photograph by Henry Hardy Cole (or possibly Joseph David Beglar). Source: http://www.bl.uk/

Looking to the South  

Rooms on the southern side with the emperor's chambers - Town rumour has it that a tunnel runs from the chambers to a nearby lake which was used by Nur Jahan

The remains of the Eastern Gate 

Any information on why this diagonally placed brick?

A renovated corner

An original part of the Sarai

Carvings on the western door that left Cunningham unimpressed 

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* However, there is no evidence that I have found (yet) to back it up this claim.

Gurpurab di lakh lakh vadhai!

Firangi, Gora and Vilayati

A recent conversation made me realize that I tend to use the word firangi while talking about white tourists in India and got me thinking about the other words used for them. My knowledge is restricted largely to Punjabi, but at least for north India, I think the list below would be almost if not fully exhaustive. Where I did get stuck was in figuring out the difference in the usage for the terms, especially firangi and gora.*


Firangi  - Along with gora, the more common word used to describe a foreigner. I had always assumed that word's origin was fi-rang - other coloured. But it appears I was wrong.  Wikipedia informs that the word is not just used in the Indian sub-continent, but across much of the middle-eastern world:

"Because the Frankish kingdom (Francia, the name origin of "France") dominated Western Europe for centuries, terms derived from "Frank" were used by many in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and beyond as a synonym for Latin Christians or Western and Northern Europeans in general."

The french, though, also have their own specific word in the sub-continent - francisi. 

Gora (f. - Gori) - White-complexioned. According to the Concise Hobson-Jobson, the word referred to any European who was not a sahib, 'sahib' being used when "no disrespect was intended". (Now of course, we are masters of our own fate and no longer use the word for the white man; instead we use it to obsequiously address our government masters who possibly hold more power than their pre-independence compatriots in ruining lives).

Even though Hobson-Jobson may consider the term not a very polite one, it means a fair complexion and is used to refer to fair skinned Indians also. Surinder Kaur singing about the chaos caused by the gori and her jhanjraan (anklets) is quite a Punjabi favourite (our unhealthy obsession with fair skin notwithstanding, it is a beautifully sung song).

Vilayati is the equivalent of the hindi Videshi - a foreigner,  and comes from the arabic wilayat meaning 'a kingdom, a province' and in Hindustani is used to indicate "any imported article or good", including a person. It also gave rise to the English term Blighty for their homeland, as in "Fifty of the 76 escapees were summarily shot by the Gestapo on Hitler's orders, and only three (none British) made a successful "home run" to Blighty."

And though vilayati-pani means soda-water, frangipani apparently has no connection with India. I clarify only because I assumed it did and meant the same thing as vilayati-pani. Frangipani is the common name of the flower Plumeria, known in the subcontinent as champa, and gets its name from an Italian marquess.  

Hobson-Jobson also gives the term "Blatty", again derived from vilayati, for two plants in south India, the Hydrolea zeylanica and the Sonneratia acida, though I can't figure out why - with my limited botanical understanding, they both seem to be native to this side of the world (unlike the vilayati-baingan or the tomato). 

Angrej (Angrez) (f. - Angrejan) - Strictly speaking, refers to an Englishman but colloquially can be used to refer to any foreigner. If you try and act too cool, you might get to hear "Baala angrej ban dae" (You think you're an Angrej?) in Punjabi.
   
Englandi - Used specifically for a resident of England, irrespective of ethnicity, race, color etc., as demonstrated by one of the pater's friends known to me only as Englandi. Yes, he lives there.

The question still remains - when do you use which term? And I don't know the answer. Sometimes one, sometimes the other term comes more easily to the tongue. Shah Muhammad's epic on the Anglo-Sikh wars is titled Jangnama - Singhan tey Firangian (Book of War - the Singhs and the Firangis.)  and while firangi is the more common word used by him, he also uses gorey and angrej. Perhaps there isn't and never was much difference between a firangi and a gora.

To sign off, a white man's views on considering himself a firangi:

‘Since my first visit to India over ten years ago, I have grown increasingly fascinated by the word firangi. To translate it simply as ‘foreigner’ doesn’t do it justice. The Hindi videshi is a world away, quite literally, from firangi, a Mughal-era Persian makeover of ‘Frank’ (or Frenchman). My former Hindi teacher, who favours a chaste Sanskritised language purged of all alien interlopers, grimaces whenever she hears the word. She considers firangi an impure term, a linguistic foreign body that has illegitimately become Indian. But that impurity is precisely what I love about the word firangi. And it is also why I consider myself a firangi, not a videshi. I am a foreigner, but I also am not: my time in India has transformed me, changing how I speak, how I think, what I wear, what I eat, the music I listen to. Slowly but surely, like the word firangi itself, main Hindustani ban raha hoon.’ 

For the rest of the interview with Jonathan Gil Harris, read here.

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*These terms are, as far as I know, used only for the white western people. For people of all other regions of the world and India, I don't know if we have any politically-correct words at all.

Rabb

Professor Mohan Singh was the first Punjabi poet that I was introduced to by my grandmother who brought home Saavey Pattar and spent many summer afternoons taking us through it. The poem below is one that she recited often but it didn't mean anything to my 8 year old self. It had completely slipped my mind until the other day when I remembered the first two lines out of the blue. And so I finally read it.

The complete poem is here.

ਰੱਬ
ਰੱਬ ਇੱਕ ਗੁੰਝਲਦਾਰ ਬੁਝਾਰਤ
ਰੱਬ ਇਕ ਗੋਰਖ-ਧੰਦਾ ।
ਖੋਲ੍ਹਣ ਲੱਗਿਆਂ ਪੇਚ ਏਸ ਦੇ
ਕਾਫ਼ਰ ਹੋ ਜਾਏ ਬੰਦਾ ।
ਕਾਫ਼ਰ ਹੋਣੋ ਡਰ ਕੇ ਜੀਵੇਂ
ਖੋਜੋਂ ਮੂਲ ਨਾ ਖੁੰਝੀ
ਲਾਈਲੱਗ ਮੋਮਨ ਦੇ ਕੋਲੋਂ
ਖੋਜੀ ਕਾਫ਼ਰ ਚੰਗਾ ।


Rabb
"Rabb ik gunjaldaar bujaarat - God's an entangled riddle
Rabb ik gorakh-dhanda - God's a labyrinth of complications
Kholan laggiyan pech eis dey -  Trying to understand God's workings
Kaafir ho jaaye banda. - Turns man into an unbeliever (kaafir).
Kaafir hono dar key jee vein - And so even though you live in the fear of becoming a kaafir
khojon mool naa khunji  - But don't ever give up on your questions
Laayilagg momin dey kolon - Rather than being a credulous believer
khoji kaafir changa." - It is better to be a questioning kaafir.

Tey jey tuhaanu samajh aa vi gayi, taan pher ki hoya, for as Bulleh Shah says:

“Gal samajh layee tey raolaa keeh ey,
Eyh Raam, Raheem tey Maula keeh ey.”

Operation Blue Star - June 1984.

The Darbar Sahib (the Golden Temple) has played a central role in all of Sikh history. It has been attacked, destroyed and desecrated and it has been built afresh each time. It is a potent symbol of Sikhism, and along with the turban, the most recognizable. Equally important, though less known to the wider world, is the Akal Takht. Standing opposite the Darbar Sahib, the Akal Takht is the political seat of Sikhism that has stood, in popular imagination and historically, as a challenge to the power of Delhi.

The day Operation Blue Star began was the martyrdom day of Guru Arjun Dev, the 5th Guru of the Sikhs, who built the Darbar Sahib. To any one with the least knowledge of Sikh history, an immediate parallel would be Ahmed Shah Abdali's attack on the Darbar Sahib on Baisakhi in the 18th century. There were innocent pilgrims inside, more so than on any other day, and it would be futile to argue that the Indian Government was unaware of the importance of the day for the Sikhs, which would mean that it was either stupid or deliberate in choosing that day for launching its attack.

The Sikh Reference Library went up in flames after the complex was in control of the Indian army. The Indian government has admitted that certain Sikh records from the library are in the possession of the army, yet they have not been returned or catalogued.

"The soldiers were in a foul mood. According to the official White Paper, 83 army personnel had been killed and 249 wounded during the Operation. Private estimates give much higher figures of army casualties.238 After the destruction of the Akal Takht, they drank and smoked openly inside the Temple complex and indiscriminately killed those who were found inside. For them, every Sikh inside was a terrorist. According to the official White Paper, 493 terrorists were killed, 86 wounded and 1,592 apprehended during the Operation. These numbers add up to 2171, and fail to explain what happened to at least five thousand pilgrims who were trapped inside when the Operation began. The eye-witnesses claim that "7 to 8 thousand people were killed". Mark Tully estimates that approximately 4000 people may have died. Chand Joshi suggests 5000 civilian deaths.239" (Ram Narayan Kumar, The Ghalughara: Operation Blue Star - A Retrospect) 

Bhindranwale, the ostensible reason for Operation Blue Star, was a creation of Indira Gandhi and became her nemesis. He became a power in Punjab politics because of Indira Gandhi's patronage and became a hero and martyr in the wider Sikh imagination because of Operation Blue Star. Getting rid of Bhindranwale was not a good enough reason for the attack, not when other options were available, not when other opportunities were ignored.

"Until June 1, 1984, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale held his regular public meetings on the roof of the community kitchen inside the Golden Temple complex. The meetings were open to all, and it should have been possible for a group of commandos to nab him there by using minimal force. This was not done. It should also have been easy for specially trained sharp-shooters, who had positioned themselves on the buildings around the temple, to target Bhindranwale and his armed followers, and to "neutralize" them. On June 1 afternoon, mixed groups of various security agencies that had occupied the multi-storied buildings in the circumference did open fire against the temple complex when Bhindranwale was holding his audience on the roof of the kitchen building. Instead of targeting Bhindranwale, the sharp shooters aimed at various buildings, including the main shrine of Harmandir Sahib which received 34 bullet marks. The objective of the barrage of firing, which lasted seven hours, was to assess the strength, the training and the preparedness of Bhindranwale’s resistance." (Ram Narayan Kumar, The Ghalughara: Operation Blue Star - A Retrospect)

What was felt strongly by the Sikhs and has not been recognized by most of the rest of the country is the fact that Operation Blue Star was not so much about taking out Bhindranwale but an attack on the Sikh psyche - on their confidence and their spirit. Indira Gandhi considered it a political game, a good enough cause to consolidate her position by rallying the nation against a common enemy, which was not so much Bhindranwale, but any Sikh who did not conform to and accept the idea of India as dictated by Delhi. And what has also perhaps not been recognized is the fact that even though it happened before I was born, Operation Blue Star will always haunt me, will make me consider Indira Gandhi a complete failure as a national leader and make me question my rights and position in my country because I belong to a minority, and this does not make me a Bhindranwale supporter.  

"As I already observed, the attack on the Golden Temple, the destruction of the Akal Takht, and the atrocities that followed the army operations produced in all sections of the Sikhs a sense of outrage that was hard to alleviate. In any case, appeasement was not even attempted. The large majority of Hindu India, even if politically hostile to Indira Gandhi, openly identified with - and exulted in - her Will to overwhelmingly humble a recalcitrant minority. The sentiment was echoed by Morarji Desai, the former Prime Minister who had led the democratic coalition which replaced Indira Gandhi’s Emergency regime in March 1977: "Nation would have been destroyed if the army had not been moved in. All the terrorists have not been finished yet. They should be liquidated as they are maligning the image of the Sikhs and pose a fundamental threat to the very existence of the country."247 (Ram Narayan Kumar, The Ghalughara: Operation Blue Star - A Retrospect)

The attack on the Golden Temple Complex was a state-sponsored action and like all state-sponsored actions in India, there has never been a public accounting. After all, who is clean enough to point a finger at anyone else? The only other national party, the BJP, is desperately trying to put behind its own state-sponsored terrorism in Gujarat in 2002 and project its perpetrator, Narendra Modi, as the next national leader – and Gujarat is a more recent occurrence and within people’s proverbially short memories.

It is easy to tell people to move on. They have no choice but to move on; the necessity of life makes it so. Yet moving on is not the same as achieving closure. And the Indian Government has always failed in providing that. It is not sufficient to make a Sikh Prime Minister apologise to his own people.

Here is the complete piece, extracts of which are quoted above, by Ram Narayan Kumar on Operation Blue Star.

A Song for Baisakhi

Memories of Mum singing this.

A farmer has got a good wheat crop. He tells his wife to put aside her work for the day and to quickly dress in all her finery and come with him to the mela where they will celebrate Baisakhi together. He thanks God for his blessings, but the heart of the song is the joy of the farmer for having had a successful harvest and his love for his wife.