Uniquely Indian – Kolkata Addas

Uniquely Indian – Kolkata Addas

‘Adda’ is a Bengali expression for a chat or an informal conversation among a group of people, and is considered typical to the Bengali ethos. Considered an essential part of the daily routine, especially in the evenings, participants could be anybody – literary stalwarts, politicians, retired-from-work senior citizens, intellectuals, students or the gainfully unemployed. In a typical ‘adda’, the topics range from national politics to Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize medallion to football to good old-fashioned gossip. There is the rumble of many opinions about ‘the system’, expert opinions, diametrically opposite viewpoints and bruised egos. Vociferous conversations frequently turn into heated arguments, but never into physical fights as adda is essentially an intellectual discussion. India Coffeehouse on College Street in Kolkata has long been touted as THE place to observe or participate in an ‘adda’. The book fair is an intellectually conducive atmosphere to ‘doing adda’, as Kolkata prides itself on its citizens’ artistic, intellectual and literary leanings.More recently, ‘addas’ have assumed online entities on egroups and networking websites where the homesick, non-resident Kolkatan could indulge in his favourite pastime.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s November 2012 Issue.
SMS – Music -Soundtrippin’

SMS – Music -Soundtrippin’

What is this album about?
Sound Trippin is an album compiled from the television show of the same name, where a song is put together with sounds inspired by a particular location in India. Each song is a collage of the unique auditory experience of that region – musical traditions, ambient sound and local voices – combined in a contemporary framework, in timeframes as short as four days.
Who is it by?
Sneha Khanwalkar is a young composer known for the strong rural Indian flavour in her contemporary compositions.
Why should listen to it?
Khanwalkar makes sense of the sound clutter that beseiges our ears when we walk along the streets of the cities and villages of India. For instance, Tung Tung is inspired by Punjab – the sounds include not just the full throated vocals of the Nooran Sisters and the beat of the dhol drum, it also includes a factory siren, a tractor motor and the voice of the commentator at the rural olympics in Qila Raipur. The very phrase, tung-tung, mimicks the sound of the local single-stringed tumbi instrument.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's October 2012 Issue.

SMS – Indian Textile traditions – Phulkari

SMS – Indian Textile traditions – Phulkari

Phulkari (phool-kaari) literally means ‘flower-work’ is a form of traditional hand embroidery by the rural women of Punjab as a ceremonial veil or shawl for special occasions. It is part of a bridal trousseau and usually created by the women of the bride’s family, now increasingly outsourced. The groom’s family also presents the bride with a phulkari piece to welcome her into the new fold. Phulkari is usually embroidered with silk thread on coarse cotton and looks like the reverse of a darning stitch. Red is an auspicious colour, hence it finds prominence in the workmanship. The most common motif is the sheaf of wheat and geometric patterns. There are also figurative pieces with scenes from village life, that are used as panels rather than shawls. When the embroidery is done all over the body of a piece, it is called ‘baagh’ or garden. Since it is painstaking work, it also tends to be very expensive.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's October 2012 Issue.

SMS – Games Indians Play – Throwball

SMS – Games Indians Play – Throwball

Throwball is a non-contact team sport with seven players per team and five substitutes. The ball is ‘served’ with one hand from across the net and the opposite team player has to catch it and throw it back within seconds. The usual ball sport rules of lines, nets and points apply. Throwball is presumed to have been introduced in Chennai, in the 1940s but it was not until 1955 that the rules and guidelines of playing the sport were formulated by Dr. Harry Crowe Buck, the Head of Department, YMCA College of Physical Education, Chennai. It took until 1980 for the first national level tournament to be organised in Bengaluru, Karnataka. However, for all its slow growth, what began originally as a ‘womens’ sport’ introduced in India, has now become a popular sport in Asia played across schools and colleges, having its own international federation with regional bodies.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's October 2012 Issue.

SMS – Indian Languages – Malayalam

SMS – Indian Languages – Malayalam

Malayalam (mala-yaa-llam) is the official language of the South Indian state of Kerala. According to some historians, the earliest form of the language was derived from Tamil, has an abundance of Sanskrit. It is perhaps this unique amalgam that led to Malayalam having the largest number of letters in an Indian language. Malayalam has a rich literary tradition that extends from religious treatises, translated epics, drama, poetry and fiction. Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, as the last word in his name implies, is regarded as the ‘father of the Malayalam language’ as we know it today. Besides his contribution to literature like the translations, Adhyathma Ramayana and Mahabharata, he is said to be the first person to give shape to the Malayalam alphabet. Some of the noted names among numerous in Malayalam literature include Irayimman Thampi, Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Vaikkom Mohammad Basheer, Lalithambika Antharjanam and Madhavikutty. According to the 2001 Indian census, there are 33,066,392 speakers of Malayalam in the country.

An edited version of the article was published in Culturama's October 2012 Issue.

Mapping India by Manosi Lahiri

Mapping India by Manosi Lahiri

What is the book about?
This is a coffee-table book filled with historical maps featuring India, sourced from map archives and private collections from across the world. The study of how India has been mapped over the centuries, is inextricably linked to a study of the country’s history, the military and commercial interests in the country and the very development of cartography itself.
Who is it by?
Manosi Lahiri is a geographer and author of several books.
Why should I read it?
This book is a treasure trove of information for anybody interested in history, exploration and cartography. Painstakingly compiled over six years, the book covers subjects ranging from Indian cosmographic traditions, European maps of the 1500s, the days of ‘graphic designer cartographers’ who had never visited the country they depicted and the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India that took 40 years to complete.
An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s October 2012 Issue.

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