I think they have used that term to refer to someone who is a professional/amateur jester. Just guessing. ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar ----- Original Message ----- From: Kerry Edwards What exactly was a Buffoon? We used the word for someone 'not quite as smart'....

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Text-And-The-City/articleshow/41379891.cms <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Text-And-The-City/articleshow/41379891.cms> ooroo

An interesting article, David. Thanks for sharing. As an aside - Armenia nationalised Christianity as the country’s official religion, a decade before - Constantine followed suit for Rome. Just waffling ~ Sally On 29 Aug 2014, at 12:41 am, railton.david via <india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> wrote: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28867884 ------------------------------- 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

Hi David, can you email me please - your inbox must be full - emails are being delayed and then being rejected. Kind Regards Kerry

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28867884

For those researching Armenian connections http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28867884 Best, Sharon

Buffoons, ear-pickers and sherbet-sellers.....fascinating stuff! What exactly was a Buffoon? We used the word for someone 'not quite as smart'.... The plethora of other enterprising small business people (for want of a typical word) like the cotton-beating- walla, kainche/Churi- teez-karna-walla (scissors/knife sharpener who used his bicycle for thsi purpose), the old mochie or cobbler (whom our neighbours called 'Bull' - as he had 'hide'), the Kalai-walla (one who silvered your pots and pans) and the list goes on, it still fresh in my memory even from the 1960s. Kind Regards Kerry On 27 August 2014 16:09, Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar via < india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > 26 August 2014 > > Buffoons, ear-pickers and sherbet-sellers > >

There's a hard copy book I have comprising letters from Indian kids - can't remember the editor'd name, but you'll get it from Amazon. Cheers M On 27 August 2014 11:32, Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar via < india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> wrote: > Give some more details, please. > > -- Harshawardhan > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "S Sircar > > P.S. If there are any kind academics on this listserv who can advise > me on a translation of a colonial subliterary text, pls contact me > backchannel and I will ask for their advice. > Sanjay Sircar > > > ------------------------------- > 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 >

26 August 2014 Buffoons, ear-pickers and sherbet-sellers Specialist professions such as these are just some of the fascinating details about life in India which are revealed by the reports of the ten-yearly Census of British India in 1891. http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/2014/08/buffoons-ear-pickers-and-sherbet-sellers.html ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar

Give some more details, please. -- Harshawardhan ----- Original Message ----- From: "S Sircar P.S. If there are any kind academics on this listserv who can advise me on a translation of a colonial subliterary text, pls contact me backchannel and I will ask for their advice. Sanjay Sircar

'It is very hard to endure the bombs, father': Letters from Indian soldiers during World War I On the centenary of the Great War, the forgotten voices of thousands of Indian combatants are being heard again. Excerpted with permission from Penguin Books India from 'Indian Voices of The Great War: Soldiers' Letters, 1914-1918, edited by David Omissi (Viking|Penguin), Price: Rs. 599 http://scroll.in/article/672169/%27It-is-very-hard-to-endure-the-bombs,-father%27:-Letters-from-Indian-soldiers-during-World-War-I ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar

Isn't it curious that with all the much-heralded "subaltern studies" which started off in the late 1970s and which flourish in happy Marxism today, it has taken this long for this to happen?  This phenomenon seems to me to contain within it a curious comment on the various academic subtexts and unspoken (though usually shriekingly clear) assumptions that drive the market in our post-colonial academe of today.   I had a great-uncle who was in Egypt in 1914-18 (I think) -  not, of course, an officer.  I am so happy that these published letters survived.   Does Omissi  give any account of the process of collecting them?  P.S. If there are any kind academics on this listserv who can advise me on a translation of a colonial subliterary text, pls contact me backchannel and I will ask for their advice.  Sanjay Sircar  ________________________________ From: Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar via <india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> To: india-british-raj@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, 26 August 2014 4:33 AM Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] Letters from Indian soldiers during World War I 'It is very hard to endure the bombs, father': Letters from Indian soldiers during World War I On the centenary of the Great War, the forgotten voices of thousands of Indian combatants are being heard again. Excerpted with permission from Penguin Books India from 'Indian Voices of The Great War: Soldiers' Letters, 1914-1918, edited by David Omissi (Viking|Penguin), Price: Rs. 599 http://scroll.in/article/672169/%27It-is-very-hard-to-endure-the-bombs,-father%27:-Letters-from-Indian-soldiers-during-World-War-I ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar ------------------------------- 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

I also know that author, Narenbhai, though not as intimately as you do. :-) I suspect he is your alter ego -- in fact, it's you yourself! I loved your book. It's delightful. -- Harshawardhan ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar ----- Original Message ----- From: Narendra Phanse Here's an extract from a book, which was written in 1990s, published earlier this year and it describes a photograph of a queen: (On seeing the photograph of the family)...from their attire, they appeared to be some kind of royals. The woman, who was very pretty, sat on a decorated, stylish, half-moon-shaped, backless chair. She had a faint smile on her face...wore a brocade sari, the end of which partly covered her head, but her wavy hair was clearly visible. What caught everyone’s attention was the exquisitely crafted gold necklace that adorned her graceful neck. It was studded with precious stones, one of which sparkled as it caught a ray of light when the photo was taken... ('Full Circle - published by CreateSpace) The author (whom I know intimately) confesses that he saw the photograph of Princess Danesh Kumar for the first time today, and perfectly fits picture he had in his mind when he wrote of the queen in his book. Fact indeed is stranger than fiction. ============================== Celebrating the end of war at the Great Eastern Hotel, Calcutta, 1946 http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/143/

Celebrating the end of war at the Great Eastern Hotel, Calcutta, 1946 Image and Text contributed by Jonathan Charles Cracknell, London, UK http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/143/ ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar

The reference of my previous mail is to the following link: http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/103/ And pardon my misspelling: It should have read Princess Danesh Kumari. On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 6:52 AM, Narendra Phanse <nbphanse@gmail.com> wrote: > Here's an extract from a book, which was written in 1990s, published > earlier this year and it describes a photograph of a queen: > > *(On seeing the photograph of the family)...from their attire, they > appeared to be some kind of royals. The woman, who was very pretty, sat on > a decorated, stylish, half-moon-shaped, backless chair. She had a faint > smile on her face...wore a brocade sari, the end of which partly covered > her head, but her wavy hair was clearly visible. What caught everyone’s > attention was the exquisitely crafted gold necklace that adorned her > graceful neck. It was studded with precious stones, one of which sparkled > as it caught a ray of light when the photo was taken...* ('Full Circle > - published by CreateSpace) > > The author (whom I know intimately) confesses that he saw the photograph > of Princess Danesh Kumar for the first time today, and perfectly fits > picture he had in his mind when he wrote of the queen in his book. Fact > indeed is stranger than fiction. > > > > On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:14 AM, Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar via < > india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> wrote: > >> >> >> Celebrating the end of war at the Great Eastern Hotel, Calcutta, 1946 >> >> Image and Text contributed by Jonathan Charles Cracknell, London, UK >> >> http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/143/ >> >> >> ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> 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 >> > > > > -- > Narendra > -- Narendra

Here's an extract from a book, which was written in 1990s, published earlier this year and it describes a photograph of a queen: *(On seeing the photograph of the family)...from their attire, they appeared to be some kind of royals. The woman, who was very pretty, sat on a decorated, stylish, half-moon-shaped, backless chair. She had a faint smile on her face...wore a brocade sari, the end of which partly covered her head, but her wavy hair was clearly visible. What caught everyone’s attention was the exquisitely crafted gold necklace that adorned her graceful neck. It was studded with precious stones, one of which sparkled as it caught a ray of light when the photo was taken...* ('Full Circle - published by CreateSpace) The author (whom I know intimately) confesses that he saw the photograph of Princess Danesh Kumar for the first time today, and perfectly fits picture he had in his mind when he wrote of the queen in his book. Fact indeed is stranger than fiction. On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 5:14 AM, Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar via < india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > > Celebrating the end of war at the Great Eastern Hotel, Calcutta, 1946 > > Image and Text contributed by Jonathan Charles Cracknell, London, UK > > http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/143/ > > > ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar > > > ------------------------------- > 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 > -- Narendra

This short piece is written by our own Grande Dame Moira Breen. She reviews here RANI SIRCAR's new book STRAINS IN A MINOR KEY and finds it an absolute delight. Those interested in the life in India (and Calcutta in particular) immediately after Independence would find it extremely helpful. ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar STRAINS IN A MINOR KEY by RANI SIRCAR Reviewed by Moira Breen August 2014 In an earlier book, Dancing Round the Maypole, the author Rani Sircar described growing up in India under British rule when Indians were clamouring for Independence, and she talked of the cultural hybridities and tensions of the time. Her second book, Strains in a Minor Key, will have undeniable appeal for those of you who love India, and especially Calcutta (now Kolkata), or are interested in it from a foreign perspective. The author has lived in Calcutta from the last years of British rule for more than six decades. Strains will give you a taste of a Calcutta which is more than just a byword for slums. It takes you through the famous streets and places: the main highway of Chowringhee, posh Park Street, grand St Paul's Cathedral and the nearby Victorian mansions; the side streets off the New Market, Lindsay Street and Madge Lane - home of the eccentric Muslim tailor, Moyna, and of Hindu jewellers; the world of Firpo's Italian restaurant, and Keventer's Milk Bar. And it then goes further afield, to the suburbs. It is about the generation of young Indians who took over the top positions in government and business previously held by the British, and how they lived and worked in Calcutta. Rani belongs to a progressive Indian Christian family of Brahmin extraction, and is part of a very cosmopolitan world, encompassing Brahmos (a reformed monotheistic movement which emerged out of Hinduism), Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Anglo-Indians, Chinese and foreigners of various backgrounds. India is a country of many languages. Rani's father spoke the language of Madras, Tamil, and her mother, Bengali. For convenience the language spoken in her home was English, but Rani is conversant with all three. In Calcutta she also became familiar with colloquial Hindi. Her friends and acquaintances speak many of the languages of India, often incorporating words from one language into sentences in another. As Rani reports their speech, she explains the origin of these words. This is the first book I have read about India which explains the etymology and context of many of the loan words in common Indian English speech. This book is about a woman in Independent India from young adulthood to marriage and into old age, beginning with Rani's graduation from Madras University with an M.A. In English literature; she was then the first native-born Indian to be hired to teach English in an Anglo-Indian girls' school in Calcutta. She taught school for a few years until she married, and then gave up teaching entirely to look after her husband and children. She thoughtfully explores weighing up the pros and cons of married women working outside the home - the universal problem faced by all women, for which there is no current viable solution, with or without servants and with or without electrical appliances. Rani describes lovingly the first house - attached to a parsonage - which she lived in as a married woman and regretfully had to leave for lack of space. She moved to an apartment in a building that was once Whiteaway's - a famous British department store. The core of her book is the vast range of interesting thumbnail sketches of a number of her friends and family, which give us a sense of what an entire society was like. Servants in India are treated as members of the extended family and their family problems often become intertwined with that of the employer. At one time Rani had a cook who had three wives and three sets of mothers-in-law so the usual mother-in-law problems became compounded! The daughter of the dhobi (washerman) was married to his assistant and they all lived together, depending on the young daughter to do all the cooking - except she could not cook! For a delightful taste of a post-colonial world in its early years, an account of how it gradually changed, and a distinctive and charming perspective, style and voice, I recommend this book highly: Strains in a Minor Key by Rani Sircar. ISBN 978-93-81346-93-8 Published in Kolkata, India by Gangchil 2014 Book seller with the item in stock: Ram Advani Mayfair Building Hazratganj, GPO Box 154 Lucknow, U.P. 226 001 India email: <radvanilko@gmail.com> (Also available from amazon.in) ================

Aug 14, 2014 Meet Adrian Shooter - the Englishman who drives in ENGLAND a car made in India. He loves his Ambassador. He also owns a steam locomotive that once used to pull DHR - Darjeeling Himalayan Railway trains. The 1889 British-built steam engine, used in the Darjeeling hills in India till 1962, was bought from a private collector in Chicago. http://forbesindia.com/article/play/an-indian-relic-in-oxfordshire/38383/1 ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar

Great review by our own Grande Dame. Dearest Moira - thank you for alerting me to this book. Hope to hear from you in a personal email very very soon. Sandra -----Original Message----- From: india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar via Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2014 4:27 AM To: india-british-raj@rootsweb.com Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] ''STRAINS IN A MINOR KEY'' by RANI SIRCAR (Reviewed by Moira Breen) This short piece is written by our own Grande Dame Moira Breen. She reviews here RANI SIRCAR's new book STRAINS IN A MINOR KEY and finds it an absolute delight. Those interested in the life in India (and Calcutta in particular) immediately after Independence would find it extremely helpful. ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar STRAINS IN A MINOR KEY by RANI SIRCAR Reviewed by Moira Breen August 2014 In an earlier book, Dancing Round the Maypole, the author Rani Sircar described growing up in India under British rule when Indians were clamouring for Independence, and she talked of the cultural hybridities and tensions of the time. Her second book, Strains in a Minor Key, will have undeniable appeal for those of you who love India, and especially Calcutta (now Kolkata), or are interested in it from a foreign perspective. The author has lived in Calcutta from the last years of British rule for more than six decades. Strains will give you a taste of a Calcutta which is more than just a byword for slums. It takes you through the famous streets and places: the main highway of Chowringhee, posh Park Street, grand St Paul's Cathedral and the nearby Victorian mansions; the side streets off the New Market, Lindsay Street and Madge Lane - home of the eccentric Muslim tailor, Moyna, and of Hindu jewellers; the world of Firpo's Italian restaurant, and Keventer's Milk Bar. And it then goes further afield, to the suburbs. It is about the generation of young Indians who took over the top positions in government and business previously held by the British, and how they lived and worked in Calcutta. Rani belongs to a progressive Indian Christian family of Brahmin extraction, and is part of a very cosmopolitan world, encompassing Brahmos (a reformed monotheistic movement which emerged out of Hinduism), Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Anglo-Indians, Chinese and foreigners of various backgrounds. India is a country of many languages. Rani's father spoke the language of Madras, Tamil, and her mother, Bengali. For convenience the language spoken in her home was English, but Rani is conversant with all three. In Calcutta she also became familiar with colloquial Hindi. Her friends and acquaintances speak many of the languages of India, often incorporating words from one language into sentences in another. As Rani reports their speech, she explains the origin of these words. This is the first book I have read about India which explains the etymology and context of many of the loan words in common Indian English speech. This book is about a woman in Independent India from young adulthood to marriage and into old age, beginning with Rani's graduation from Madras University with an M.A. In English literature; she was then the first native-born Indian to be hired to teach English in an Anglo-Indian girls' school in Calcutta. She taught school for a few years until she married, and then gave up teaching entirely to look after her husband and children. She thoughtfully explores weighing up the pros and cons of married women working outside the home - the universal problem faced by all women, for which there is no current viable solution, with or without servants and with or without electrical appliances. Rani describes lovingly the first house - attached to a parsonage - which she lived in as a married woman and regretfully had to leave for lack of space. She moved to an apartment in a building that was once Whiteaway's - a famous British department store. The core of her book is the vast range of interesting thumbnail sketches of a number of her friends and family, which give us a sense of what an entire society was like. Servants in India are treated as members of the extended family and their family problems often become intertwined with that of the employer. At one time Rani had a cook who had three wives and three sets of mothers-in-law so the usual mother-in-law problems became compounded! The daughter of the dhobi (washerman) was married to his assistant and they all lived together, depending on the young daughter to do all the cooking - except she could not cook! For a delightful taste of a post-colonial world in its early years, an account of how it gradually changed, and a distinctive and charming perspective, style and voice, I recommend this book highly: Strains in a Minor Key by Rani Sircar. ISBN 978-93-81346-93-8 Published in Kolkata, India by Gangchil 2014 Book seller with the item in stock: Ram Advani Mayfair Building Hazratganj, GPO Box 154 Lucknow, U.P. 226 001 India email: <radvanilko@gmail.com> (Also available from amazon.in) ================ ------------------------------- 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

On 14 August 2014 09:26, Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar via < india-british-raj@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > This short piece is written by our own Grande Dame Moira Breen. She > reviews here RANI SIRCAR's > new book STRAINS IN A MINOR KEY and finds it an absolute delight. Those > interested in the life in > India (and Calcutta in particular) immediately after Independence would > find it extremely helpful. > > ---- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar > > > Strains in a Minor Key by Rani Sircar. > ISBN 978-93-81346-93-8 > Published in Kolkata, India by Gangchil 2014 > Book seller with the item in stock: > Ram Advani > Mayfair Building > Hazratganj, GPO Box 154 > Lucknow, U.P. 226 001 > India > email: <radvanilko@gmail.com> > (Also available from amazon.in) > This does indeed look an interesting book. I went to add it to my on-line book wish list which resides at LibraryThing (www.librarything.com) and found the book is not shown there, nor on Amazon.uk. It is rhough on Amazon.in. I have manually added it to the LibraryThing database and will await for it to arrive at Amazon.uk, which I hope it might do. Regards, Julie Goucher www.anglersrest.net www.anglers-rest.net http://theinmemoryofquilt.wordpress.com/