A lecture by William Dalrymple at the National Museum, New Delhi on the 11th of May, 2014

Sunday the eleventh was a special day since I had the luck of attending a lecture conducted by William Dalrymple titled Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707 – 1857 at the National Musuem, New Delhi. We (Revd. Sunil Ghazan and I) were able to meet William outside the auditorium while he was working on his laptop, searching for the relevant files to use during the lecture, and I waited patiently for him to sign my copy of  The Return of The King, and of course he graciously obliged!It goes without saying that we entered an auditorium that was already jam-packed, so Reverend Sunil Ghazan and I had to thread our way through the aisles to get a couple of seats minutes before the lecture started.

Having read The White Mughals and The Last Emperor, it was easy to relate to the journey that William Dalrymple  took us through, and what a remarkable  journey in history it was! William took us through the golden age of Mohammad Shah, and he talked about how the tabla and the sitar found their greatest recognition in the early 1700s. He went on to describe how the word, Moghul has come to stay even today as a expression for wealth and power in today’s English usage.The age of  Mohammad Shah might have included many ups and downs, but then it was also remarkable in that it saw Mohammad Shah ruling for forty years! This was a period of sensuality and pleasure as depicted in the paintings of the era. The emergence of Nadir Shah however saw a decline in the patronage of art and poetry.

 

William also described the entry of the British along with the East India Company into the scene. He talked about how many of the British people who held high positions in the East India Company and members of the British Army finally succumbed to the charms of the native women and the native culture of the land. It was as if they were being steadily assimilated by the Indian culture. Some of the important personalities described included David Octalone, William Frazier, Metcalf and Skinner, in whose name the St. James church has been named (pictured above).

The reign of Bahadurshah was based less on conquest and more on a more settled, moderate life devoted to the development of arts and culture although it was in 1857 that the great Sepoy revolution on of the greatest upheavals in Indian History came to be, which according to William could be better termed as The Uprising! It has been shown and proved through various sources according to William that a large number of the soldiers who mutinied against the British had in fact joined Bahadurshah Zafar. The tragedy however was that the large number of men that had joined the Emperor against the British became difficult to feed, and what they required to be an effective army was food and good leadership. They were ‘defeated by their own success’ according to William Dalrymple. The speaker also talked about how Howard Russels brought about a more positive change in journalism, and that he was probably one the few and last British who were to meet the Last Emperor in Exile in Rangoon. All this interesting information was supported by carefully selected rare paintings from that period.

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Adventure in the Himalayan foothills at Byasi and Tapu Sera, Uttarkhand, India

If you are interested in white water rafting, rappelling down a cliff face, or hard-core trekking in the Himalayan mountain ranges, then you need to head towards Byasi, Jayalgarh, or Tapu Sera. Byasi is incidentally two hundred and forty kilometres from Delhi, and you could drive towards it. Or take a train, the Shatabdi, preferably till Haridwar and then take  a cab till the camp. The camp that I visited along with some students is set up by an Adventure Group called, “Nature Connect”. The camp at  Byasi is made up of tents close to the flowing waters of the Ganga. There is no electricity at the camp, so one has to rely on the solar lamps provided by the organisers of the camp. The camp set up by Nature Connect is not for the weak hearted as is proved by the range of adventure activities hosted by those running the camp. These activities include white water rafting activities over rapids ranging from grade one to grade four! If the names, roller coaster, butterfly, three blind mice, double trouble, golf course, and crossfire appeal to you then let me tell you that they are the names of the rapids that you would cross on the run from Byasi to Rishikesh. Some of these rapids can be most daunting, and guaranteed to pump up your adrenaline!

Rappelling down the rock face is yet another activity that will give you an adrenaline rush that will leave you with a sense of accomplishment after you have descended from the rock face safe and sound. Conducted and supervised by  experienced and trained supervisors employed by Nature Connect, this can be an achievement that you could speak of all your life with great satisfaction!

After a fun-filled day of rappelling, and belaying, you could just lie down on the white sands gazing at the star-studded sky. If you are lucky, who knows, you might see shooting stars and make your wishes. The night sky appears clear and bright and you would be able to identify various constellations like The Seven Sisters, The Big Dipper, and Cassiopeia. The planets Mars and Venus were clearly visible in the night sky. 

No, this is not the sky but a photograph of a scorpion on the sand lighted with a torch, but then this is a symbolic representation of the sky at Byasi.

This is a photograph taken in the wee hours of the morning.

Another camp set up by Nature Connect is located at Tapu Sera, Village and Post Office, Chammroli on the outskirts of Dehradun. It is about thirty eight kilometres from the camp at Byasi in Uttarakhand. You could order a cab to take you to Tapu Sera. Located in a valley surrounded by tall mountains, the Camp of Tapu Sera lies by the flowing stream of the Bandal river which is an important source of drinking water for Dehradun. The series of canals built by the British still exist although today they are being covered. The primary activity at the Tapu Sera camp consists of a really difficult trek up the mountain.

This is a photograph taken of the camp while trekking on the mountains surrounding the camp.

A must visit destination on the trek is the village of Chamroli inhabited by twenty-one families. The total population of this village is 90. The village has a primary school which provides education till grade six. The oldest resident is Mr. Indersingh who is eighty-five years old. The people at the village cultivate wheat through step farming.

The innocent looks of the village folk belies the hard life they have to undergo in order to survive.

A village belle looking out of her window

We saw various examples of the use of renewable energy sources at the camp at Tapu Sera. One very pertinent example was the water mill used for grinding wheat.

 

This mill was run purely on energy provided by the water flowing down an aqueduct!

The camp at Tapu Sera is incidentally not connected to major cell-phone networks. Once you reach the the camp, you are literally disconnected from the outside world. This camp, run by Nature Connect is meant only for those who want to be disconnected from the hustle and bustle of the busy world of the cities! An ideal place to recoup your energy and to disconnect from the stress and toil of the cities, Tapu Sera is apparently a wonderful place to visit! The trek on the mountain range surrounding the camp might however be a hard one compared to others you might find on such expeditions! Those who are interested in adventure activities organised by Nature Connect may contact Mr. Ajay Kandari on +919410313897 or connect on www.natureconnect.in. or alok@natureconnect.in.

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