A Happy New Year John & All the Listers on the Raj list Neville

The Club's site - http://www.calcuttaclub.org/newsletter.htm Calcutta Club opens turf to women http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=232718 and http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1843202.ece See also http://www.india9.com/i9show/Calcutta-Club-44391.htm ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

>From the NYT Amnesty Plan for Relics of the Raj Published: December 30, 2007 http://tinyurl.com/2uhbyx http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/arts/design/30kahn.html?pa gewanted=1&_r=1 ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

>From http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1942/420812a.html Quote: ** ORDERS TO AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES IN INDIA August 12, 1942 Dept. of State Bulletin, August 15, 1942. 1. The sole purpose of the American forces in India is to prosecute the war of the United Nations against the Axis powers. In the prosecution of the war in that area the primary aim of the Government of the United States is to aid China. 2. American forces are not to indulge to the slightest degree in activities of any other nature unless India should be attacked by the Axis powers, in which event American troops would aid in defending India. 3. American forces in India will exercise scrupulous care to avoid the slightest participation in India's internal political problems, or even the appearance of so doing. 4. In event of internal disturbances American forces will resort to defensive measures only should their own personal safety or that of other American citizens be endangered or for the necessary protection of American military supplies and equipment. ** Unquote ========= ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Book review by Khushwant Singh From http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071229/saturday/above.htm ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India Saturday, December 29, 2007 This Above all - Story of the valiant queen Jaishree Misra's book ''Rani'' on Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi Quote Some years ago, I spent two days and nights at Orchha in Madhya Pradesh. It is a small town comprising mainly a fort-palace complex on side of river Betwa and a market built round a square with temples and small shops on the other. It is redolent with myth and legend of historic romances. The crystal-clear Betwa runs through jungles past Jhansi on its way to joining the Yamuna. I am tempted to say if you haven't seen Orchha you haven't seen India. On my way back, I had a whole day to spend in Jhansi before catching the evening train to Delhi. All I knew about Jhansi was that Rani Lakshmi Bai, who fought a losing battle against British rapacity, ruled over it for many years till the sepoy mutiny of 1857 which Pandit Nehru and other patriots call the First war of Independence. They made Lakshmi Bai its valiant leader in Central India. Netaji Subhas Bose raised a regiment of his Indian National Army named after her. During British rule it became an important cantonment with a sizeable community of Anglo-Indians. John Naster's novel Bhowani Junction was later made into a film. He based his work of fiction on Jhansi. I went on a guided tour of the town. The highpoint was the castle-cum-palace on top of a hill in which Lakshmi Bai had spent her married life and as a widow. There is little left of the palace but the walls are intact. I was shown the spot on the ramparts from where she is said to have jumped on horseback to a mound below and escaped. It gave a splendid bird's eyeview of the cantonment and cluster of bazaars below. One look convinced me that story of her escape could not be true: a fall from that height would have killed both rider and horse. I was eager to know how she had eluded the British encirclement to continue the fight for freedom and how she died. I was eager to read what Jaishree Misra had to say about it in her recently published novel Rani (Penguin). Jaishree Misra lives in London and works for the BBC. She researched material available in England and the National Archives in Delhi. She made several visits to Jhansi and Orchha to get a feel of these places. She takes no liberties with historical facts or personalities but fills in the gaps using her own imagination. She weaves a fascinating tale of fact and fiction of the Rani's life. She describes it as a romantic novel. The story begins with Lakshmi Bai's childhood in Banaras in the household of the exiled Peshwa. Besides many other sbjects, she learns to speak and write English. At 14 she is married off to the widowed Raja of Jhansi who is in his mid-forties. It is a happy marriage shorn of sex for over 10 years. As her husband begins to turn senile, she takes over the administration of the state, holding court, training her troops and dealing with the British representative Captain Robert Ellis, a handsome bachelor. She rides out every early morning and meets Ellis who comes from his cantonment. They fall in love. She bears a son to her husband who dies after a few months. She adopts a boy and proclaims him as heir apparent. Ellis has the unpleasant duty of informing her that powers that be in Calcutta or London will not accept adoption and Jhansi, like many other princely states will lapse and be absorbed as British territory. Disgusted with British hunger for an Indian empire, Ellis resigns his commission and returns to England. The Sepoy Mutiny breaks out in 1857 - first at Barrackpore, then Meerut. It spreads across the Indo-Gangetic plain. Rulers of erstwhile Indian states, including Bahadur Shah Zafar, nominal Mughal Emperor, the Peshwa in Uttar Pradesh, Begum Hazrat Mahal of Avadh in Lucknow, Nana Phadnavis, Tantia Topi and Lakshmi Bai in Jhansi join the rebels. Terrible atrocities take place in which women and children who were promised safety are butchered in cold blood. The British do worse by burning down whole villages, bayoneting men and women or hanging men at random. One thing is clear that motives of the populace who threw in their lot with rebellious sepoys were different from the princelays who joined them. For the latter, it was not patriotism but property. These are the bare bones of Jaishree Misra's Rani. She fleshes out her tale of tragedy with vivid descriptions of the countryside, profiles of principal characters and makes her narrative highly readable. Lakshmi Bai did not jump from ramparts of her fort on horseback but found her way out through a subterranean passage. She fell in battle sword in hand. Rani is excellent material for a Bollywood film. Unquote

Quite a good collection of photos: Ships of the "British India Line". http://www.rhiw.com/y_mor/ships_photos_02/british_india_01.htm See also this page: ''Our Ships Photograph Collection''. http://www.rhiw.com/website_maps/ships_photos.htm ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Robert Clive's last stand Saturday , December 29, 2007 Time stands still in this sprawling mansion in Dum Dum from where Lord Robert Clive reportedly plotted the domination of Bengal. Also known as 'Bara Kothi', Clive House is one of the oldest buildings in Kolkata. Constructed before Siraj-ud-Daulah's invasion, it was the summer residence of Governor-General of Bengal Lord Clive, the man considered by many to be the founder of the British Empire in India. Present status The colossal building is on the path of steady decline. All efforts to restore the house to its original glory have been, at best, half- hearted. Wild plants and creepers grow out of the house's walls, the plaster has peeled off from the facade and the roof has given away at several places. Amazingly, the porch still survives. The cavernous rooms are now occupied by several families - all descendents of post-Partition refugees who had taken shelter in the house. Two families reside in the main building while another 20 live on the premises. In fact, these illegal settlers now stand in the way of renovation by the Archaeological Society of India. "The ASI served a notice ordering us to vacate the premises but we refused. We want them to make alternate arrangements for us first," said Shobha Saha, one of the occupants. "My mother-in-law put up base here over 50 years ago. Where will we go?" she added. ASI connection The ASI has declared Clive House a Monument of National Importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. In the course of excavation during 2001-03, artifacts dating back to the 1st and 2nd Century BC as well as 8th and 9th Century AD were found. Most were terracotta plaques and figurines of the Sunga, Kushan and Gupta periods. The deadlock The ASI had envisaged setting up a museum in the Clive House. Accordingly, it drew up plans for large-scale renovation of the mansion. But it's been almost a year since the work was aborted midway. The ASI points to two obstacles. A part of the building is caught in a legal wrangle with occupants refusing to vacate. No fresh allocation of funds led to stalled renovation work in the remaining portion. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Robert-Clives-last-stand/255556/ ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

>From the New York Times dated March 24, 1878, Wednesday [Page 10, 3280 words] A TRAVELER IN THE EAST; BRITISH INDIA. AGRA ** If one could be dropped from a balloon, or, rather, set down gently, so that Agra might be his first city in India, he would run a chance of being enraptured with the country. The region around the city is fairly fertile, and many of the spots are like gardens in their luxuriance; the city itself is not badly built, and the principal street the one containing the bazaars is wide and well paved. ** [snip] http://tinyurl.com/2gl7tz http://tinyurl.com/23f9wx ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

A wondeful gift item. Like this book, perhaps? The Poetry of British India, 1780-1900 2 Volume Set: c.800 pp: 2011 978 1 85196 985 2: 234x156mm: £195.00/$335.00 Quote This innovative two-volume reset edition draws together a selection of Anglo-Indian poetry from the Romantic era and the nineteenth century. The poets engage with India in different ways: some deal with the experience of migration, others respond to the Indian landscape, whilst the wider project of British rule in India also provides a big theme. The lament, the sonnet and the comic verse are favoured forms. This extensive body of literature is not well known and can only be accessed in rare out-of-print nineteenth-century periodicals. The edition will restore a group of marginalized voices to the poetical canon. It also includes a selection of Rudyard Kipling's Indian poetry, contextualizing it as a late addition to a long-established tradition of British Indian literature. The edition will benefit from extensive new editorial matter, including a substantial general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes, endnotes noting textual variants, chronologies and an index of titles and first lines. It will be important for scholars researching Romantic and Nineteenth-Century Literature and Poetry. Unquote Visit http://www.pickeringchatto.com/index.php/pc_site/major_works/the_poetry_of_british_india_1780_1900 to see the contents. --- Harshawardhan, regretting that he has no rich godfather. :) Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

G'day folks, Some of you may be interested in reading of this remarkable man http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Martin http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_will_of_Claude_Martin ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

You know how to hurt a person. They looked absolutely scrumptious and left me drooling on my keyboard. Ah, well, good eating , John! Claire

For those who are feeling nostalgic for mangoes. www.vsdh.org/mango/index.htm ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

A Very Happy Christmas to all Raj List members!Those who are already celebrating in OZ, please have an eggnog for me! Cheers, Claire Bradley (in a sunny, cold but snowless NY)

Thanks for this, Arvind..........I have often wondered what became of her. Cheers, Lynne. :)) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Arvind Kolhatkar" <akolhatkar@rogers.com> To: <india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2007 9:33 AM Subject: Re: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] ''Peccavi'' and Catherine Winkworth > Lynne, > > Catherine Winkworth earned quite a reputation as a translator of hymns and > other books from German into English and was recognized as a notable woman > writer of that period along with George Sand, Emily Bronte and others. > > If you type her name in books.google.com advanced search, you will see her > name in hundreds of links. > > Arvind Kolhatkar, December 22, 2007. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.6/1193 - Release Date: > 12/22/2007 2:02 PM > >

**** The trip from New York to Jummoo is about as long in point of time as to California twenty-five years ago. As many years hence the survivors of us may be getting up Thanksgiving or Christmas reunions at the old homestead of the Aryan family. It will never be a hackneyed spot. It stands too much on end. Steep mountains are never hackneyed: Cook's Personally Conducted will never permeate Kashmir. **** Thus wrote Edward C. Bruce in SEPTEMBER, 1878. His write-up on ''MODERN KASHMIR'' was published in the LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE, with several nice illustrations. Online at - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22250/22250-h/22250-h.htm ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Thanks, John, for this. Is your copy a real hard copy or digitised? If the latter, can you tell me where did you get it (the URL)? ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Kendall" > Now, I wonder who among us can find out this issue of Punch. It must be online somewhere. I searched but could not find it immediately. May need a deeper look. I have this edition in my collection. The reference is on page 209 Vol6, 18 May 1844, and reads: ...

Wishing each one of you A Very Happy and safe Christmas and may the New Year bring you all that you wish for. Molly Sarstedt-Hamilton, Townsville, Australia On a beautiful summers day Researching - Sarstedt/Hitchcock/Osborne/Cullen/Pringle/Vargas/Hamilton/Slark/Samworth/Fury/Short/Lawcock/Smith

----- Original Message ----- From: "Claire Bradley" Not to spoil your triumph, gents, but the fact that a woman originated the phrase was pretty much muffled by your cries of joy and chest thumping at its mere discovery!! I count 25 words mentioning this, NOT including Lynne's message. "Tchah!" [Bertie Wooster] ============================= Ah, but my dear Claire, that woman - Miss Catherine Winkworth - was obviously a BRAINY lass; and if you remember Bertie Wooster's biography, he'd always professed a strong disinclination to be found dead in a ditch with any of her ilk ... (grin) Without doubt Miss Catherine Winkworth was a born-genius, as her later life proves. Have a look at her online biography, which is at : http://www.ccel.org/cceh/archives/eee/winkwrth.htm -- Harshawardhan Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

G'day John, On 22/12/2007, at Saturday,Dec22,7:21PM, John Kendall wrote: > I have this edition in my collection. The reference is on > page 209 Vol6, 18 May 1844, and reads: snip 8<......... Just wondering, is there any cartoons by David Langdon, in that copy? :-) ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

More on the subject.. Begin forwarded message: G'day John: Very cute, but an oldie. See the NYT blurb from 1982 August 15, 1982 THE PECCAVI PUN I was most interested to read the anecdote of Sir Charles Napier in William Safire's column ''Exit Haigspeak'' (On Language, July 11). However, I think the circumstances surrounding his message to London, ''Peccavi,'' were rather different, making it an even better pun. The fighting in the 1840's was at a time of British expansion in India. Nevertheless, there were those in Britain who doubted the wisdom of too rapid an advance, and in particular, the capture of the province of Sind, which was thought likely to lead to an overextension of lines of communication. Napier was therefore under express orders not to capture the territory. Once he discovered, however, how little resistance there was, he took the province with ease. ''Peccavi'' therefore meant both ''I have Sind,'' and ''I have sinned'' - perhaps a perfect pun. MARK BURNYEAT New York City __ And from 2005 Peccavimus by Ian R Thorpe Saturday, January 08, 2005 This poem is rated "G" by the Author. Read New Poetry Rated: G, PG, PG13, R Share Print Save Author Tracker Recent poems by Ian R Thorpe • Let Us Seek New Journeys Together - 12/18/2007 • The Churches Are Burning - 12/13/2007 • Work of Art - 11/27/2007 • Chimera - 11/26/2007 • Beautiful Children (with no love in their eyes) - 11/26/2007 • Idiot Savants - 11/19/2007 >> View all 126 The title I chose for this reminded me of a story about one of the more illustrious old boys of my school, General Havelock who was remarkably witty for a military man. During the British annexation of India the General was dispatched with an army to secure the rebellious north western province of Sind (now Pakistan) On securing the territory Havelock sent back a one word message to high command, "peccavimus." (which in Latin means "we have sinned") That of course is totally at odds with the gravity of this poem. Peccavimus (we have sinned) The world spins endlessly around its dying sun in endless space. Seers and science seek a sign; are we alone or might we be mutations of an older race planted here to serve some grand design as guardians of a sacred trust. Peccavimus. Squatting on our mother Earth we tear at her fragile skin, gorging on the precious lode. The industry that milks her dry destroys the seed contained within. Her vital systems now corrode; we drain her like an incubus. Peccavimus. A glutton never forsees want but hopes the feast will last forever careless of harm that may accrue to the infinitely forgiving dam; but if the umbilical cord should sever the cycle ends, nothing can renew. Must everything we made end thus? Peccavimus. Peccavimus, we all have sinned, ignored wisdom for easy gain, turned each from other to cult of self, traded with the salesman priest, bought instant pleasure with future pain, swapped heritage for short term wealth, thrown truthless prayers at empty skies. Earth bleeds. May we yet turn the tide. The prodigal god that men have made demands only blind servitude, turns the child against its mother, deceives with gifts of gold and glory the highest among nature's brood and bids the rape go on forever until womb becomes sarcophagus. Peccavimus. ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.