Nodes in History

Image Source: wikipedia.org

I was reading this article about Berlin's Ostbahnhof Station, its history and how past and present collide there. It is interesting how the development of early railway networks - that was almost entirely market driven - has had such lasting effects on our history. Of course there is also this article which which goes all the way back to the Roman Empire and tells us in the form of a Socratic dialogue (being meta, are we?) what the with of a horse's ass has got to do with US Standard railroad gauge and the size of a space shuttle's solid rocket boosters. But I digress.

The Ostbahnof article talked about how the station, and the area around it, was the gateway to Eastern Europe and how successive regimes have built over it and tried to change its character over time. I like to think of structures like these - public places that have been in use through centuries - become nodes in history. They bear witness to history as it plays out in the public sphere. These nodes, by virtue of the history they embody, become seats of power and successive regimes build / extend / restore to establish their power.

Image Source: buzzintown.com

One such building that immediately comes to my mind is the Writers' Building in Calcutta. The current West Bengal government is in the process of clearing out the "non-heritage" blocks (that were built by the Communist government before them) and restoring complex to it former glory. My friend and collaborator, An Observant Owl did a photo story documenting the demolition process and I wrote a blog post to go with it here.

Another such node, which has been sadly transformed into a glass case enclosed exhibit of history, was the Qutub Complex. It is said that a complex was the site of several Jain and Hindu temples, which provided much of the raw material for building the mosque, the minar, and the surrounding structures. Four different emperors added to/restored it; even the Brits tried to add a storey to it but then decided against it. Our democratic regime has mummified it; now it doesn't throb and pulse with history. Now it's just a background for a selfie.

Bhujwasi Gourmet

What started off as a birthday present for my newest flatmate, Aar became a mini collaborative culinary and ethnographic archiving project on its own. But then again she deserves no less. She is one half of the Halbe & Gaudin Blog where she regularly documents her culinary adventures. Now I contribute elbow grease, frying skills (I'm half maru and that's like having a masters degree in frying) among other things to these adventures. Sampling the result in a reward in itself. I'm not even going to talk about last night's meal because Aar is writing a whole post about it.


So without digressing any further, presenting to you Bhuujwasi Culinary Kahaniya! The cover art is done by Tapas, who puts up his artwork regularly on Man-Mauji F.ART.

The Book has been divided in Drunk Brunch, Drunk Dinners, Drunk All Day and Drunk Desserts sections. Bhujwasis current and gone-by have contributed their favorite things to eat in Bhuj along with memorable stories about each recipe. Happy Reading!

I want to be horrified again

Today morning, while I was still drinking my first coffee, my friend told me about this horrific incident that happened; a four year old child was raped, sodomized, mutilated and then left to bleed by railway tracks in Delhi. A voice inside me said "Please lets not discuss such unpleasant things first thing in the morning". The moment I formed this thought in my head, I realized how complacent and insensitive and selfish I was in that moment. 

kafila.org

It reminded me of this article I had read a few days ago on Kafila. The article talked about the Dadri incident where a person was killed by a mob that falsely accused him of eating beef. The author, Gautam Bhan, talks about how forms of violence against certain sections of society becomes so routine, that it becomes the order of things. Towards the end he said:

We must assert our words so that the violence slowly, painfully becomes less banal, less ordinary and we are horrified again.

These words struck a chord in me - I want to be horrified again by how commonplace violence has become. In this context, reading about Pinjratod felt great. I've lived in PGs and hostels and faced all the things that these brave women are protesting against. I had honestly accepted them as facts of life, so it is very refreshing to see comrades taking on everyday forms of sexism.

I like this platform and websites like News Laundry (full disclosure: while I support NL financially by buying a subscription, they haven't paid me anything to write this) because they question the dominant narrative and because they do not come down to morbid sensationalizing of non-issues. Most of the popular news media is basically reporting on the verbal ping pong matches between politician while Rome burns.