42 YEARS AGO-CHAPTER THREE

After seeing our first snowfall at Bristol, we took the scenic "A" road to go thirteen miles South East towards Bath, our  first destination as a tourist in this land of Great Britain. Bath has always had interesting connotations for me. We in India are always obsessed with bathing.  In 26th century BCE which is about 5000 years ago, Mohenjo Daro, the biggest city of the Indus Valley Civilisation, had  a huge granary and a few other massive buildings and structures, and there was a large and elaborate public bath, which is now classified as the ruins of  "The Great Bath". Those many years ago too, bathing was an important part of life. The gigantic size of the public bath may have had some special significance attached to it. This great bath measured 11.88 meters x 7.01 meters and had a maximum depth of 2.43 meters.
All good things for us Indians start with a purificatory bath, in fact our day starts with a bath. Could that be a reason for our choosing Bath as our first destination? Actually no, that was not the reason why we chose Bath. Bath was the nearest tourist destination, had  historical importance and was also known to be a beautiful place.

So off we sped on the A 4 highway towards Bath. I must tell you that while Motorways are known for the speed at which one can travel, "A" roads are well known for their scenic beauty. They also represent the traditionally important radial routes coming out of London. A4 is from London to Avonmouth, it is also known as the Great West Road or Bath Road.

Bath is in the Avon Valley near the southern edge of the Cotswold. It has a range of limestone hills and has been designated as an "Area of outstanding natural beauty". The limestone hills  surround and make up the city of Bath, which is not very spread out. We therefore planned to park our car in a parking lot and then walk around the town and visit all the places of tourist interest. 

We soon reached Bath and started looking for a place to park, where the car would be safe and the parking would not cost us too much. We found a good spot, parked the car and Triloki went towards the parking meter to put in some coins that would take care of the parking charges  for the day.

No sooner had we walked a few feet away from the car, we heard some sort of a strange siren  blaring. We, who had not so long ago heard air raid sirens during the Indo- Pak war in 1971, started wondering what all the noise was about. Could there be an air attack? We were well trained to run for shelter in case of an air attack, so we started looking for air raid shelters. Then suddenly one of us noticed that there was a traffic light which was making all that commotion. The noise was being made to draw our attention to the fact that our car was parked covering a bit of the zebra crossing.

Aha! I was reminded of the saying, "An Englishman's home is his castle". 

In 1763, William Pitt the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom had defined the dictum as:-

" The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the crown.

It may be frail,
its roof may shake,
the wind may blow through it,
the storm may enter,
the rain may enter,
but the King of England cannot enter."  

So this was the land where the right of a person on his land was his alone. A pedestrian also is given importance and has the right of way to walk on the pedestrian crossing. In such a land,  we had trespassed over the space meant for the pedestrians walk! This was sacrilege! 
Quickly we went up to the car and parked it properly within the space marked out for parking the car. That was lesson number one that we learnt. We cannot intrude upon the space  of another.

We now marched towards the famous bath which was built by the Romans in 60 AD. This city became a spa, as there were natural hot water springs here which had curative properties. Over time this City developed, an Abbey was founded here in the 7th Century, in the 17th century during the Georgian era, the Royal Crescent, Circus, Pump Room and Assembly Rooms were built. Coming to Bath became very popular and the nobility of England spent a lot of time taking the waters of the spa.

THE ROYAL CRESCENT

The Royal Crescent, which was built between 1767 and 1774 is a very spectacular terrace. While the curved  facade of thirty houses looks very uniform from the front, in reality the owner of every house built the rest of the house behind the facade as per his own specification.

VIEW OF THE ROYAL CRESCENT FROM THE BACK

Therefore, while from the front it looks uniform, from the back the houses are very different with different roof heights and juxtapositions. 

Rain water in Bath and its surrounding  area percolates through limestone aquifers to a depth of between  9,000 to 14,000 ft (2,743 to 4,267 m) where geothermal energy raises its temperature to between 64 and 96 °C. Under pressure, the heated water rises to the surface along fissures and faults in the limestone. Bath is the city built over the fissure where this heated water rises. 

THE BATH

These hot water springs are supposed to have therapeutic value and cure illnesses. I was reminded of our own sulphur springs in India where a lot of people go for curing themselves of aches and pains and joint problems. The amenities that are available in our hot springs at Sohna and elsewhere are really pathetic. What we saw in Bath was majestic and beautiful. No one from our group was interested in getting a cure for anything as at that young age aches and pains were mere words and were non existent for our own persona. 

We saw the spa, visited the Pump Room, Assembly Rooms, walked along the lovely open vista, peeped into the elegant cafe and then reached the quintessential shop for memorabilia. I have always liked this very subtle reminder at the end of a visit to a tourist spot which says "you may like to buy a little knick knack as a reminder of your visit". No one actually says these words, it's not even written anywhere, yet the presence of a curio shop  at the end of a visit gives this message loud and clear. There is no escaping from this message as everyone has to walk through this curio shop to  exit from the building. I, who  can never resist  temptation, paid heed to the message and bought a set of coasters with the pictures of all the beautiful spots of Bath. Yes, you are right,I still have those coasters preserved. I  used them sparingly in all these forty two years and preserved them, so that I could tell you this story with pictures attached.

Before leaving the spa we had to visit the cafe and have a typical English tea. A tea is incomplete without scones, well, that is what Jane Austen said, so we had scones with fresh cottage cream and Earl Grey tea in lovely porcelain cups with the design of the very typical English red rose on them. It's surely not the tea that I remember, what I still recall is the experience of having tea with scones in the late afternoon of a beautiful summer's day in England. Incidentally, Jane Austen lived in Bath for a fairly long time but did not really like the place.

THE TEA CUP

After partaking of the tea and feeling very delighted with ourselves, we went back to our car, the one which we had surreptitiously taken away from the garage, and made our way back to Cheltenham and our humdrum everyday existence.

In my next story my dear friend, I shall go back to the problem of the Driving License and share with you what happened on our journey to Stratford upon Avon. It is indeed an interesting episode and will surely keep you entertained and engrossed.

So that's it for now. 
Sayonara, So long, Farewell, See you soon, Namaste, Alvida, Shabba Khair.

42 YEARS AGO - CHAPTER 2.

Triloki and I had only three months in England and a few weeks had already flown past in trying to familiarise ourselves with the ethos of the place.

In Cheltenham we walked to all the places, as we lived in the centre of the town and loved walking. The first time that we travelled out of town, we had taken a Red bus to Gloucester. That was of course the cheapest form of public transport. That was also the time when I had excitedly exclaimed, "It is just like a Picture Post card." In hind sight I know picture postcards are always made with real photographs of actual places, so there was no need for that excited exclamation. But then need is need and what comes from the heart is excitement.

I have always been very fond of books. My biggest joy is to  visit a book shop and spend unlimited time looking at the rows and rows of books from top to bottom. In those days I could only look as money was always in short supply and books were a luxury. Looking at the book, turning the pages and smelling the new pages was free. I had therefore made it a rule to buy at least one book every month, which rule I followed quite sincerely for a number of years.  I had actually devoured the books of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, A J Cronin and Thomas Hardy who based their stories in Britain. I loved to visualise the British countryside by reading the poetry of Wordsworth. In my world of imagination, England was what these authors had shown me through their writings.  The British countryside, small towns and the royal city of London with its Dukes and Duchess and Kings and Queens and lesser nobility fascinated me no end. As a child after reading "Dick Whittington and his cat", I had visualised the streets of London as being paved with gold. Having reached the country which I knew so well theoretically, I  had this great desire to explore all the high and low lands, the little villages and towns, the meadows and inns, the rivers and glens and see everything with my own eyes. 

For seeing all these places one needed to be mobile. No, no not the mobile phone as of now, we needed to "be" mobile as in have a vehicle to move about in. See how with the changing times the usage of words also changes! What meant a vehicle at one time now mainly means a phone.

BOOKLET WITH MAP OF NORTH WALES

Coming back to my story, it was decided that we would first explore the areas nearest to Cheltenham. A colleague of Triloki's from Dowty Rotol, Roy Boston gifted him a booklet with a map of North Wales and South England. We covered the booklet with a covering paper and preserved it so well, that I still have it. 

BOOKLET OF MAPS

We zeroed in on Bath as our first destination. Bath had a fascinating name, great history, old world charm and beautiful old buildings.

We had decided to share a car with some others who wanted to travel and explore Britain. We wanted to travel in a  car for convenience, comfort, comradery and  carefree travel.  We needed to share the car so that the economics would also work out. Triloki knew how to drive a car and had an Indian car Driving License. The License had been issued in Kanpur and was in Hindi. In those good old days paper was not too scarce and plastic was not rampant. The Driving License was on a very large sheet of paper, which would get folded and get enclosed inside two pieces of cloth bound paper. It used to look like a little booklet. The size was quite  large and would not fit inside a shirt pocket. Before leaving India, Triloki had not thought about getting an International Driving License, so we looked for a friend who had a valid International Driving License. Puri who had been posted to UK for a year had the foresight to obtain an International Driving License before leaving Lucknow and he was also wanting to explore England.

CAR RENTAL IN 1973.

It was decided that Francis, his wife Sushma, Puri, Triloki and I would go together to Bath. On a lovely Saturday morning, Puri and Triloki left for the car hire place to select a car and fetch it home. When they reached the car hire place, the paper work was completed, insurance details were filled in and a beautiful grey coloured Morris minor car was selected. You didn't wonder why Morris Minor, did you? Yes indeed, that was the cheapest car. 

RATES OF SELF DRIVE CARS

So after collecting the keys both these gentlemen walked towards the garage to drive out with the car.  At the garage when Triloki went towards the driver's seat, the owner of the garage said that the person with whom the agreement was made would have to drive the car and no one else would be authorised to drive the car. 

We with our "chalta hai" attitude could not have imagined that the British Garage owner would be such a stickler for rules. The interesting point was that Puri had an International Driving License but he did not actually know how to drive a car! Does the song, "This happens only in India"come to your mind? Well, so now the question was how would Puri drive out with the car?

 Triloki and Puri kept talking and requesting and trying to persuade the owner to allow Triloki to drive the car away as Puri was not feeling too well, but the owner was simply not willing to budge. His no was a firm no. It was not "let me see", nor "what can I do".

It was now a clash of two cultures. It was a match between our team which was used to saying,"bhai sahib, jane dijiye na", "arre bhai, kya farak padta hai, hum toh saath saath hain" and George the garage owner who was firm with his righteousness and rigidity to follow rules. How truly Rudyard Kipling had said, " East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet"

This was now  turning out to be a major crisis. 

 Triloki started giving Puri lessons in Hindi on how to engage the clutch and put the car in first gear and how to release the clutch slowly, so that Puri would just move the car out and once outside the premises, Triloki would take over.  The release of the clutch and engaging of the engine refused to work, and the car refused to move. All this was happening in the presence of the owner who was watching with apprehension.

Now, Triloki is a very determined person. If he wants to do something he leaves no stone unturned to achieve his goal. For him "if there is a will there is a way". All the maxims started working now. 

"The will is mightier than rules". Oh oh! Ok, agreed there is no such maxim, I just made that up! The collective will of Puri and Triloki started working. It reminds me of a dialogue in the movie "Om Shanti Om" where Shahrukh Khan says, "Itni shiddat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai, ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saajish ki hai",  the essence of the dialogue is that if you really desire something then the whole universe starts working towards getting your wish fulfilled.

So the "whole universe" came to the rescue of these two desperate people. There was a shout from inside the garage that there was a telephone call for George. Wasn't it very convenient that in those days there were no mobile phones? George had no option but to walk back in to the office to take his phone call. Grabbing this opportunity, in James Bond style, Triloki quickly dashed into the driver's seat, Puri jumped on  to the passenger's seat and off these two drove lock stock and barrel, that I guess should read limo, steering and bonnet. The "juggad" of the East always succeeds.

These two reached home, we piled into the car and soon left for Bath via Bristol, with both of them singing,"We shall overcome...hum honge kaamyaab"

 Sushma and I couldn't stop laughing after hearing about this escapade  from the garage. We kept imagining the look on the face of the garage owner. Soon the excitement of driving on the roads of England took over. The beauty of the countryside, the orderliness of traffic transported us to another world. We enjoyed our journey southward until hunger pangs struck us. 

THE MOBILE EATERY EN ROUTE

We looked for a small joint where we could eat, but found nothing to our liking, until we saw a small wayside eatery where we got hot dogs and coffee. 
 In the photograph above you would notice that Triloki is wearing a suit with tie and I am in a saree.  Yes, in those days even when going for a holiday one dressed in formals! So, after this small break we drove on towards Bristol. Bristol was a big city and we were looking forward to see urban England. Before we could be delighted with the sights of the beautiful bridge on the river Avon, we saw unexpected snow falling. Our excitement knew no bounds and we, who had never seen  snow fall before, stopped the car and jumped out. That happened to be just a stray fall and the snowfall stopped as abruptly as it had started. Nevertheless our day was made and the memory of seeing the first snowfall was stored in our memory bank forever.

IN FRONT OF A CHURCH

What happened after we reached Bath will be my next story. I promise you that you will find that story interesting too. As the incidents are unfolding in my mind, I am surprised that memory still stands me in good stead. That's it for now.

Adieu mon amie,  Auf wiedersehen, so long, phir milte hain aage ki kahani ke liye!

42 YEARS AGO-PART ONE

CHELTENHAM 1973.

Let me take you back on a journey, which happened about forty two years ago.

The year was 1973, the month was March. Triloki was working as a Chief Supervisor with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). He was posted at the Lucknow Division which then did not have its own premises. They operated out of rented accommodation at Aishbagh. Although the designation "Chief Supervisor", does not sound funky now, in those days it was quite an impressive and important position. Triloki had joined as a Management Trainee which can safely be  presumed, was a class apart from the rest.

The Management Trainees had a lot of fun together, they were all young Engineers starting out on the threshold of their careers, with dreams galore and little money at their disposal. Salaries were modest, but the prestige attached to the job was rather high. HAL used to regularly post their Officers to various places in England for getting trained in various skills and practices which were needed in an Aircraft factory. Triloki was sent to United Kingdom for three months, of which for two months he was posted  at the beautiful Cheltenham  to train with Dowty Rotol and Smith Industries, and for one month with Lucas Aerospace in Birmingham. Although we had no savings and no money, Triloki took me along after managing to raise a loan against his motorbike. The ticket was all of Rs. 3,500 return fare. In those days the Lufthansa Airline was offering Youth fare for which I was eligible. Triloki and his group were travelling Air India, as it was the rule that all Government employees had to travel only by the Government airline.  He left with his group of eight people. They were going to stop at two different places en route. Their first halt was at Cairo and the next one was at Frankfurt. In those days Airlines would allow a stopover and pay for the hotel accommodation too. This way the passengers could see the place where they halted for the night, at no extra cost. I, travelling on a Youth Excursion fare was not entitled to a halt. I was to land at Frankfurt at the same time as Triloki and we were to meet each other there.

That was my first travel by air and I was quite awed by the massive plane that I was boarding.  It was  a Jumbo Jet 747, which had just then been introduced by the airline. At Frankfurt I was as nervous as can be and waited for Triloki to come and meet me. We walked about a bit and looked at the shops.  I bought a beautiful Green little shot glass with a stem with a few Swarovski stuck on it in a pattern. I still have it.

It was a lovely purchase and a luxurious one also, because I just had three pounds with me, which was all the foreign exchange that a tourist was allowed by the Government of India then.

After this brief meeting and shopping, I boarded my flight to London and Triloki took his flight, also  to London. 

I landed at Heathrow airport and was to wait for Triloki, as I was the one who would land first. Heathrow was a big airport and had three terminals then. While I landed at the terminal where flights from Europe landed, Triloki was to land at the terminal where other international flights landed. I was one innocent little character who had led a very sheltered and protected life, so far. I looked around nervously and found a lady who looked like an Indian and worked as a janitor with a mop. I went up to her and asked her how I could go to the terminal where Air India flights landed. She helped me get on the inter terminal bus and that is how I didn't end up in the Lost and Found department!

Once in London, Triloki and I boarded a bus to Streatham where my Uncle and Aunty lived with their children. My father who was quite familiar with London had given me precise directions with bus numbers and the exact location where we were to get off the bus and walk up to door number 42. We were thrifty people not because we were virtuous, but because money was in short supply.  

CHELTENHAM SPA STATION

After a couple of days in London we took the train to Cheltenham from Paddington station. I wish I could remember the exact time of the train, then it would have sounded so very British to say, "We took the 4.52 from Paddington". 

The train was lovely, the seats were very comfortable and we sat facing each other. The journey was not too long and we soon chugged into Cheltenham Spa station. When we came out we were greeted by a couple of our friends and escorted to a taxi which would take us to our Hotel. I cannot forget my consternation when I could not find any handle to lower the glass of the window! In India we were used to the Fiat and Ambassador which had rotary handles with which we could lower or raise the window.

Cheltenham was a very beautiful place in an area which is called The Cotswold. It is no surprise that "The Cotswold" were designated as an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.The area has rolling hills and farm fields and beautiful meadows all around. 

THE MEADOWS

When we took our first journey out of Cheltenham to go to Gloucester, the view took my breath away and I felt as if I was actually looking at a picture postcard. There were farms along the road which were all fenced. There were gates and stiles over which one could climb into the farm, therefore the animals had no access to it. The place was extremely neat and clean. The sky was very very blue and the vehicles on the road were fast and orderly There were no slow moving vehicles as we were used to seeing on the highways in India. No bullock carts, no cycles, no tractors laden with produce. No stray animals, no jay walkers, no stopping or slowing down at villages that we crossed. Gloucester was the place where there were Indian shops and one could buy Indian grocery.

After a couple of days at the Hotel, we moved to a place in Suffolk Square, where we paid twenty one pounds a week for a room, breakfast and dinner. At this place dinner was served at 5.30 pm and after dinner all the guests rushed down to the living room to watch "Tom and Jerry" which came on the lone Black and White TV set at 6 pm. By eight thirty in the evening, our Indian stomachs would start growling for food and we would walk down the High Street which would have shut down promptly at 5.30. Even Restaurants would shut at 5.30 pm. We would often find a hamburger or hot dog stall somewhere in some street corner and eat that very happily.

We therefore decided that we had to look for our own accommodation, so that we could eat our food at the time that we wanted to eat. Triloki and I  found one room with a shared kitchen and toilet at Hungerford Street.  The owners of the house were a young Gujarati couple who had migrated from Kenya. Some of you would remember that in 1971 there was an exodus of Indians from Kenya and Uganda. Most of them had shifted to UK or USA, some even went back to India. Those were the days of Idi Amin of Uganda who wanted all foreigners to exit from his country.Therefore when we landed in England, we found a lot of Indians trying to settle down in new surroundings. Cheltenham being a small town did not have many Indians and so there were no shops selling Indian foodstuff. In our group there was one Mr. Francis who had also brought his wife along, her name was Sushma. We got along famously and spent a lot of time together, all the others in our group were bachelors.

Cheltenham was known for its spa, as well as Cheltenham Ladies College founded in 1853, it also has a very old school founded in 1574 called Pate's Grammar school. Cheltenham is also the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing. In a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include fences, water jump or jump over a ditch. These races are held in March in Cheltenham and are very popular.  Alice Lidell and Lewis Carroll were visitors to a house here which belonged to the grand parents of Alice Lidell. It is said that the looking glass which was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's book, "Through the Looking Glass" is still kept in this house. Alice Lidell was the ten year old girl who had asked Charles Dodgson to tell her and her sisters a story on their boat journey from Oxford to Godstow for a picnic outing. He later wrote it down as "Alice's Adventures Under Ground" in November 1864. He wrote under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, and we know the book today as "Alice in Wonderland."

Cheltenham was a very beautiful, peaceful small town. There was a High Street which had a Woolworth, a Coop, a Marks & Spencer and some more beautiful shops. Woolworth was a very reasonably priced departmental store. Coop was a grocery store and one would collect Green Shields  on every purchase. An album was given along with the first lot of Green Shields where one would collect the stamps and get a discount on shopping after collecting the stipulated number of points.

THE PROMENADE

On the Promenade also there were some beautiful designer shops of which The Cavendish was very well known.  The Cavendish later on merged with House of Fraser. The walk on the  Promenade  to the famous Pump house of the Spa was delightful as there were beautiful flowers planted along this path. On the lamp posts too beautiful hanging planters full of colourful flowers were hung. Cheltenham spa had become very popular after King George III visited this spa.

Since we were to be in England only for three months, we decided to explore the country. That was when we found out about the car rentals or self drive cars that were available. One could hire a car at  any place and return it at any other place. The known car hire companies then were Hertz, Avis and Budget. If one hired a car from Budget then the vehicle had to be returned to the same place from where it was hired. I am sure there must have been some more companies, but I don't remember their names now.

A HIRED CAR

Our adventures with car hiring will be my next story and you will have to wait patiently for a bit after which I will tell you about it. Suffice to say right now, that we wanted to hire a car and the only person who knew how to drive a car did not have a Driving License which the car hire Company would accept, and the one who had an International Driving License did not know how to drive.

Adios amigos, Ciao, see you later, milte hain break ke baad!

SHAKESPEARE'S THEATRE-THE GLOBE

The Stage, the pit & seating

Shakespeare and his writings are known all over the world. Shakespeare  was born in Stratford upon Avon in England in April 1564. He began staging his plays in London near the River Thames. The first theatre where his play was staged was called "The Rose". After  that his plays were staged at The Globe Theatre near Shoreditch. This theatre was built in  1599 and was destroyed by an accidental fire in June 1613, when during a performance a misfired theatrical cannon set fire to the wooden beams and thatches of the theatre. The second Globe theatre was built at the same site in June 1614 and was closed in 1642 by the Puritans. The third Globe Theatre called "Shakespeare's Globe" was built in 1997 about 230 metres away from the original site. This new Theatre is right on the banks of the river Thames.  At the location of the original Globe theatre of 1614 A.D. there is now a parking lot of a housing complex. The outline of the theatre, as it was then, has now been preserved, at the parking lot. 

The Thames

During my last visit to London, I went to see a play by Shakespeare at this historic theatre. The play was "Julius Ceasar". I had purchased the tickets to watch this play and had booked well in advance, so I could get good seats on the top most floor.  The theatre layout is very interesting. It is a circular building with a thatched roof. The stage is rectangular and thrusts out into the middle of the open air yard. The centre of the theatre does not have a roof. 

The Pit at base of stage

In the centre of the theatre, at the base of the stage is an open area which is called the "pit" or yard. This is the place from where one can watch the play by buying a ticket for 5 pounds. In olden times these tickets were available for one penny. The viewers watching from the Pit were called the Groundlings. They would stand on the rush strewn earthen floor throughout the performance. They were not permitted to sit even if there was space. Even now spectators watching from the pit are not allowed to sit when the show is on.

Rapt attention

Around this Pit or yard there are three levels of seating under a roof. For sitting there are benches without backs, except in the last row of each floor, where one has a back rest. There are pillars on each floor, which could obstruct one's view of the stage to some extent. I was surprised to note that while one ticket could cost around 39 pounds, the seat next to it could be for 27 pounds, because of the slight obstruction by the pillar. I thought that the  tickets are priced very judiciously. It is truly the British sense of fair play!

Wooden benches

The stage is rectangular and measures 43 feet in width, 27 feet in depth and is raised about 5 feet off the ground. The seating capacity is for 1380 people and standing in the pit is for 700 people.

No props, no curtains

There are no props or scenery on the stage. At the beginning of the play the performers come and place whatever items are needed for the scene. At the end of the act they themselves pick up the props and take them away. There are no curtain drops and every act is performed in continuity. In fact after Julius Ceaser is killed  there was blood spread on the floor, which was cleaned with mops by two performers. This kind of theatre was very new to me and I loved watching this unique ness

The costumes of the actors, the dialogue delivery, the acting were simply brilliant.

Entertainment in the pit

Before the play began there was a lot of noise in the pit. From three different doors  hawkers, musicians and entertainers came into the pit. This was part of the play and it was the scene  of a feast which the Romans were indulging in. While this was happening the stage was being prepared by other actors.

Once the actual play started the concentration of the audience was rapt. 

Cushion on hire

Oh yes I forgot to tell you that before one enters the theatre we pass through a foyer from where one can hire a cushion for 1 pound. The benches in the theatre are made of wood and can be quite uncomfortable when one has to sit for at least three hours. Food and drinks can also be pre ordered and one can have them in the interval without queueing up.

The bow

Watching a play at The Globe is an exciting experience. It is unique and absolutely worth it. It is very different from watching a play in any other theatre. It is the olden form of dramatics which is still being continued in this well maintained beautiful replica of the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare.

DAASTANGOI- THE ART OF TELLING A STORY

Dastangoi is a 9th century oral story telling art form, where a person narrates a story to an audience.This art is said to have originated in Arabia, from where it travelled Eastwards to Persia and then to India. The literal translation of the word "dastan" is story and "goi" is the act/art of telling the story.

The main person in this is the narrator of the story who uses his voice, pronunciation, facial expressions, pauses in between the narration, and flailing of his arms to narrate a story. 

The Narrator

On the 6th of April, I attended one such programme. The venue was the historical site of the Library of Dara Shikoh, and the dastango was Ankit Chadha. He is a young History Graduate who says that this unique form does not need   sound, lighting equipment, props, costumes or even a troupe to get a show running. All it needs are Dastangos and their stories. The dastangos in olden times used to tell interesting stories about things that they had heard of or text that they had read to the Kings as well as to the common man. 

Dara Shikoh was the eldest son of  Shah Jehan and his Begum Mumtaz Mahal.  He was born near Ajmer, when his father was not yet the Badshah but was still Prince Khurram.  Badshah Jehangir died when Dara was about 12 years old. Dara was married to Nadira his cousin and unlike most others of those days, he had only one wife.

Dara's Palace -1639 AD

Dara was a great favourite of his father and was anointed as the wali ahad or heir apparent to the throne. Dara had three other brothers, Shah Shuja, Muhiuddin and Murad, and two sisters Jehan Ara and Roshan Ara.

  The Mughals were followers of the  Chishti sect of Ajmer, but Dara was very influenced by the Qadiri sect and followed Mia Mir.  Dara was a thinker, philosopher, composer of poetry and patron of many other forms of Art.  He questioned religious thought and wanted to study the Upanishads, which were written in Sanskrit and were not available to anyone other than a Brahmin. Once, the main Priest of Varanasi approached Shah Jehan to get exemption from paying the Jiziya tax. Dara seized this opportunity and asked his father to exempt the priests of Varanasi from payment of Jiziya, in return for which he asked the priest to open the wisdom of the Upanishads to Dara. It took the priests and Dara six months of continuous sittings in 1657 to translate the Upanishads into Persian which was then the Court language. This translation was called "Sirr- e- Akbar" or the Greatest Mystery. Dara was not a protagonist of fundamental Islam but believed in the co existence of heterodox traditions. 

The Mughal construction

 When Shah Jehan decided to move his capital to the north of Agra,  Dara selected a place North of the proposed city of Shahjehanabad, and constructed his Library in 1637. Each book was brought from Agra carefully and placed in this Library. After the death of Dara Shikoh this building was given to Ali Mardan Khan, the Governor of Punjab. Subsequently it changed hands many times. David Ochterlony the First Resident of Delhi, built a palatial house on the first floor of this Library in 1803. The facade of this building was totally changed and in place of niches and arches, large pillars were built and it became a British palace. Later on it housed the Government College, The District School, Municipal Board School, and now it houses the Department of Archeology. This Library is located right next to St James Church also called Skinner's Church, it is very close to the ISBT, the original Kashmiri Gate, and Old Delhi Railway Station. It is located on Lothian Road. I am sure I have totally confused you about its location. Never mind, when you are coming from Kashmiri Gate and are going towards the Red Fort, this Library will come on your left hand side. Today it houses the Ambedkar University. 

The British facade made by Ochterlony 1st British resident

Coming back to the story of Dara Shikoh, in the battle for power, Muhiuddin the youngest son of Shah Jehan got Shah Shuja his other brother on his side by promising to get his son married to Shah Shuja's daughter. When Shah Jehan heard of this arrangement he declared that while he was alive he would take all the decisions pertaining to all his family members.

As the sun sets....

When it was rumoured that Shah Jehan had died, each of his son declared himself the Badshah.  Shah Shuja who was the Subhedar of Bengal, Muhiuddon who was in the Deccan, Murad who was in  Gujarat marched towards Agra. To quell the rebellion of Shah Shuja, Shah Jehan had earlier despatched Dara's elder son to Bengal.  Dara was therefore left alone to fend for himself and so fled from place to place with Nadira and his younger son. In the end of his escapade, he reached  Sindh, where he sought the help of Malik Jiwan whom he had saved many times from the wrath of the Badshah. Nadira did not trust Malik, but Dara did not listen to Nadira, and was actually betrayed by Malik Jiwan. Dara was captured by Muhiuddin who had by now taken the name of Aurangzeb, got rid of his brothers Murad and Shah Shuja, imprisoned his father Shah Jehan and sister Jehanara and became the Badshah of Hindustan. Aurangzeb arranged for Dara to be paraded around the City, seated on a very filthy elephant. Dara was smeared in mud, his clothes were in tatters and he was bound in chains. The public who had once loved this peace loving Prince were very disheartened to see this sight.  Dara Shikoh requested Aurangzeb to allow him to meet his father which permission was not granted to him.  Dara actually posed a threat to Aurangzeb as he was popular with the common people. So  a convocation of nobles and clergy was called by Aurangzeb who declared Dara a threat to the public peace and an apostate from Islam. In the History written in Aurangzeb's time, it was written that if Dara had become Badshah, he would have declared Islam as "kufr." He was assassinated by four of Aurangzeb's henchmen in front of his terrified son on the night of 30 August 1659.

Plaque about Dara's Library

Rebellion, bloodshed, treachery, back stabbing, life on the run, what kind of a life did a Mughal Prince live? Killing your own brothers, not knowing whom to trust, plotting and planning! Surely the life of a prince was a life of fear. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this story telling session which was held   in front of the original Library of Dara Shikoh. There are huge trees in the area and although it is in the very busy area of Kashmiri Gate, the place was calm, peaceful, quiet. White sheets were spread in front of the palace where the audience was to sit. There were cane chairs called moodha kept there. 

MOODHAS

There was a tree with head phones hung from different branches. One could hear the poetry of Dara, as well as excerpts from his teachings. This tree was called the Speaking Tree. 

SPEAKING TREE

We went around the building and saw the original Mughal structure which was the Library of Dara Shikoh. After Dara's death most of the books were lost. Later on after 1857, War of Independence whatever books were left were further destroyed. Time has gone by, Dara was ruthlessly murdered, the books were all lost, but the building so lovingly made in 1637 to house books of learning still survives and continues as an Institution of learning. That perhaps remains Dara Shikoh's legacy to posterity.

Dastan goi