AGHA SHAHID ALI: Beginning Of The Story
By Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal
I am not born
it is 1948 and the bus turns
onto a road without name
Thereon his bicyle
my father
he is younger than I
At Okhla where I get off
I pass my parents
strolling by the Jamuna River
-Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001)
I never met the great Kashmiri poet, Agha Shahid Ali, whose fame crossed the seven seas. And, neither can I claim to be a great poetry lover or critic. But whatever little I have read of his works, I love the elegant poetic prose quality pregnant with such beautiful thoughts and such piercing sensitivity that is so typical of his poetry. Whether it is in invoking history to remind the world of the cruelty of wars, in remembering Kashmir (his homeland) with a sense of unending nostalgia, or in raising humankind to lofty heights, Agha Shahid Ali always came across as a rather passionate and sensitive person as well as a lover of humanity. The wit in his poetry intersecting through pathos always conjured up an image of some one invincible - not just a possessor of both the qualities of the head and the heart but also someone rather jovial and lively. But I never got the chance to meet him and that indeed may be a life long lament.
But here in Srinagar's Rajbagh area, sitting in his father's house, where Agha Shahid, better known among family and friends as Bhaiyya, spent much of his early childhood, I can sense his presence everywhere. He comes alive in the conversations, in the collection of books, essays and articles his father Agha Ashraf Ali, an eminent educationist and a legend in his own right, has collected, catalogued and photo-copied for lending or distributing to friends or those interested in knowing about his great poet son. Agha Ashraf's house is like a museum cum library on Agha Shahid. Stories tumble out of the walls and the photographs on the tables are like history in visuals.
Two framed photographs in black and white on a writing bureau attract the eye - Jawaharlal Nehru with a child, embracing him, and Nehru with two children, balloons in their hands. "That's Bhaiyya," says Agha Ashraf and dismisses the whole thing in a matter of fact manner. "At the age of 10, my poet son wrote to Nehru, who was then prime minister of India, and the latter sent him an invitation letter to visit him along with his family." To Agha sahib, it seems like an ordinary page out of his life. To anyone else, it would appear as something unusual - a child writing to the prime minister of a big country like India and getting invited. Of course, one has heard of all kinds of people including children writing to heads of the state and the latter responding through letters. Certainly, the poet at that young age, may have written something extra-ordinary to receive an invitation as well.
It takes some prodding for the story behind the photographs to be revealed, shrouded in sweet old memories that pour out of the flat black and white images and Agha saheb's mind and begin pervading the room. "Bhaiyya must have been 9 or at the most ten years old at that time, sometime in 1959, when we went to Delhi on a visit and were staying with the illustrious Prof Mujeeb of Jamia Millia Islamia University," he recalls. Shahid was born in Delhi in 1949 while Prof Agha Ashraf Ali was serving in the Jamia University. The proud father adds, "Shahid was impressed by the changes he saw in Delhi on this visit after a long time and wanted to write to Nehru about that." The memories are hazy but Agha saheb humbly reveals, "it was written in broken English. Shahid wrote something like this: I have read your Letters to a daughter..but didn't understand everything. ..Coming to the capital city after a long time, I am pleased to see the improved condition of roads of New Delhi..." The letter ended with "May you live a thousand years." The letter was sent and the very next day, Shahid received a response from the then prime minister at Prof Mujeeb's house. "It was an invitation for the entire family to Nehru's official residence and my wife Sufia took him there with the other children," he recalls, adding, "just a brief few minutes meeting in a hall. My wife remarked that when Nehru entered the room, it was like the grand entry of a King. They were held in awe by his personality." During this brief meeting, nine years old Shahid had confidently asked Nehru, "What should I bring for you from Kashmir?" Nehru had humourously replied, "I like children. Tell them to meet me."
The encounter was rather brief. Nonetheless, the meeting became a cherished memory for the family, the moment framed and lying on the writing bureau like a family heirloom.
A letter to Nehru may have been Shahid's earliest signs of interest in writing. It is not known when Shahid actually began writing serious poetry but he would occasionally write and was growing up as a sensitive person and a thinker. At the age of 12, in 1961, while Prof Agha Ashraf was teaching in Indiana, United States of America, Shahid wrote a beautiful prose on his father's autograph book. The proud father produces a photocopy of the neatly handwritten note. It says:
I wish I knew how a man was made. The reader shall think that I do not know about ADAM and EVE or what the science theory says. I have read about them but they do not satisfy me. No one really knows how a man was made. Muslims, Jews and Christians believe that God created man- Adam, but knowing and believing is very different. The Vedas which are the holy books of the Hindus say that they don't know how a man was made. Actually people believe in the beliefs of what they call religion. The main religion of a person is his work. He's dependent on his work, he eats with the money he gets. If he goes to a mosque or any temple, that won't help him as much as his work on which his life depends
"Love is another religion of humanity. Buddha says in one of his sayings:-
Hatred does not cease by hatred
But only by love
This is the eternal rule.
Out of "Love", we begin to get" friendly which is another religion of humanity because it's the road to happiness.
Take time to be friendy, It's the road to happiness.
I the author of this theme am a student, loving art and various other things. That's my religion and my other religion is "love".
From a son to a father, Shahid Ali.
Ist October-1961
Muncie, Indiana USA.
This small piece may be no piece of literature or poetry but it revealed the richness and clarity of ideas, it also revealed the philosopher, rationalist, humanitarian and a rebel hidden in a young child. It reflected the early signs of a genius in the making.
Back in Srinagar in the same year, while Shahid was studying in Burnhall School, he wrote a poem on Jesus and showed it to his father, who didn't say whether the poem was good or bad. Agha Ashraf went to the market and bought him a leather bound notebook and said, "why don't you put your poems in this?" Shahid filled up the pages and when he had done so, his father gave him another leather bound notebook and wrote on it: Another notebook for the same game. Spontaneous self-expression must now grow into studied attempts at conciseness and discipline.
The encouragement from the family certainly contributed in honing his skills and talent. But much of the depth of ideas and intellect also seem to have stemmed from the family atmosphere itself. The academic atmosphere of a house where both his parents were well known teachers was coupled with the progressive and liberal thought, as well as love for art, culture and humanity. In a home where intellect flowed freely and where Ghalib, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Begum Akhtar and Indian classical music were part of daily diet for the soul, Shahid, like his other three siblings was already exposed to vast knowledge and multi-cultural influences. As Shahid's elder sister, Henna Ahmed, an Associate Professor of English at Truman State University writes: "Different cultural experiences intersected, overlapped and came together in Shahid's poetry. His verse drew on an eclectism that derived from various sources, but a major part of it originated from our mother. Instrumental in opening up a world that exposed Shahid to Hindu mythology and Indian classical dance and music, particularly the Bharat Natyam and sitar, our mother was a repository of these elements, sparking in Shahid's artistic mind. ...In his upbringing all these various religious and cultural events were not projected as separate and alien, but as a rich, collective cultural and personal experience that gave Shahid his sense of who he was."
It was in this healthy ambience that Shahid grew up, right here within these four walls, oozing with memories about the poet, his family and great moments of a lesser known history. You look around held in awe and thoughts go to the sad, painful death of Agha Shahid Ali in 2001, only few years after his beloved mother Sufia Nomani, passed away due to a terminal illness, leaving a badly shaken and shattered poet. Shahid emerged from the grief after a long span of time and wrote one of his greatest master-pieces 'Lennox Hill' on his mother's demise. It is strange how grief and beauty go hand in hand. His father Agha Ashraf Ali, sitting there and chatting to me, filled with both pride and a void is a living testimony. The moment invades my own mind with Agha Shahid Ali's words (written on the death of Begum Akhtar):

Your death in every paper,
Boxed in the black and white
Of photographs, obituaries,

The sky war, blue, ordinary,
No hint of calamity,

no room for sobs,
even between the lines
The words echo for a long time as we sit at the table for tea and toast, Agha saheb in his imitable style narrating his endless humorous anecdotes.

Excerpts from
Agha Shahid Ali's Poems

'Nothing will remain, everything's finished',
I see his voice again: 'This is a shrine
of words. You'll find your letters to me. And mine
to you. Come soon and tear open these vanished envelopes...'
This is an archive. I've found the remains
of his voice, that map of longings with no limit.
I will die, in autumn, in Kashmir,
and the shadowed routine of each vein
will almost be news, the blood censored,
for the Saffron Sun and the Times of Rain...
Yes, I remember it,
the day I''ll die, I broadcast the crimson
so long ago of that sky, its spread air,
its rushing dyes, and a piece of earth
bleeding apart from the shore, as we went
on the day I''ll die, post the guards, and he,
keeper of the world's last saffron, rowed me on an island the size of a grave
On two yards he rowed me into the sunset, past all pain. On everyone's lips was news
of my death but only that beloved couplet, broken, on his:
"If there is a paradise on earth
It is this, it is this, it is this.'
I want to live forever. What else can I say?
It rains as I write this. Mad heart, he brave
-Agha Shahid Ali,
The Country Without A Post Office
Mother,
They asked me, So how's the writing"? I answered My mother
is my poem. What did they expect? For no verse sufficed except the promise, fading of Kashmir
and the cries that reached you from the cliffs of Kashmir
(across fifteen centuries) in the hospital Kashmir,
she's dying! How her breathing drowns out the universe
as she sleeps in Amherst
Agha Shahid Ali, Lennox Hill)

The Wit and Wisdom of Agha Shahid Ali
 " How much can one read? I hate knowledge!"
 "I don't want to indulge in the tyranny of human contact."
 "After class, let us go for pizza and a walloping kiss at Joe's (Pizeeria in Northampton)"
 "Please help your poor little Indian out. Please come to my reading."
On the lives of modern poets:
 " This is the sort of myth making that we all do, especially when we're trying to get someone into bed."
On Coleridge's "Kublai Khan"
 "Do you remember that movie Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John in a discotheque? It's such an awful movie, I can't tell you."
 "... if Berryman had written the 'Cantos,' you would go crazy. Oh, this is wonderful gossip for a cocktail party!"
 ".. Wallace Stevens... I was just about to say, 'What's his face.' What a totally utter dismissal of someone!"
Upon hearing a student begin reading poem aloud too quickly:
"Slowly, slowly, slowly---you must be like Hamlet. Pronounce it trippingly on the tongue."
 "I know people are looking at that damned clock. Let's smash it right now!"
"That's what I'am here for ... a little correction now and then, a little 'white out"
On T.S Eliot:
 "That the only way to read these poems.. with a dictionary nearby, with a little gloss, and with a little scotch on the table."
Offering an example to illustrate a point:
Shahid: "There's that French actor, Jeanne Moreau."
Student: "Yeah, but that's is a woman, right?"
Shahid: " You bet!"
On dinner at his place at 8 PM
 "I'm going to civilise you with the old world charms. All good thing happen in the dark."
"When someone accuses you of something, just accept it, and the argument is over. " Oh, I accuse you of this, '' Yes, you're right.' And it all disappears. That is the wisdom of the East."
 "Lucky we are poets-we can be forgiven all our trespasses."
-Compiled by H.Fong,
in memory of a most beautiful poet,
a most beautiful soul.

An Indian Stuck With The Largest Ruby In The World!
By Vinaya Kumar
14 years ago, when A.Vidyaraj of Bangalore made the announcement that he had the largest rubies in the world, many thought that it was the joke of a prankster. But in the intervening years, Vidyaraj's claims have been proved genuine and the Guinness book of records have entered his name as the owner of the largest rubies in the world. How much are his rubies worth?
Let us consider the fact that in 2006, an eight-carat stone sold for close to four million US dollars (USD)/176 million rupees. Price per carat was roughly 500,000 USD/22 million rupees. Vidyaraj's rubies are name as Ravirathna, Rajarathna and Neelanjali.You can buy the Raviratna, at 2805 carats world's largest star ruby cut like a cabochon on top, for a billion US dollars. Or it's smaller cousin, the Rajarathna, the largest star stone in the world, weighing 2475 carat, for 500 million US dollars.
If you cannot afford either, you might consider buying the Neelanjali, a double star sapphire weighing 1370 carat displaying twelve star lines, on offer for 200 million US dollars.
How did Vidyaraj came in possession of these priceless treasures! For this you have to go back in history to the time of Emperor Krishnadevaraya (1509-1530) of the Raya dynasty , who was the most wise ruler of the famous Vijayanagar empire. His successors were not as capable as him and in 1565, the Vijayanagar empire collapsed against an attack by the Bahmani sultans of South India.
Krishnadevaraya's successors had to leave the imperial capital of Hambi, now one of the Unesco world heritage sites and fled to different parts of south India. After the fall of the Vijayanagara kingdom, a jagir (gifted land) was granted by King Hoysala Ballala Narsimharaya II of Karnataka to "Vidyaraj', the ancestor of the 20th century Vidyaraj, and their family inherited a bowlful of religious images known as shaligramas.
According to Vidyaraj, he is 14th generation descendant of Krishnadevaraya. A lawyer by profession, Vidyaraj had heard of his famous lineage, but had not bothered about it. But he knew that his family had quite a number of ancient religious treasures known as shaligrams, symbolic of God Vishnu, the family deity of the Raya dynasty.
When Vidyaraj's father died, he bequeathed the family heirlooms to him. Vidyaraja simply brought them to his first floor apartment in Basavanagudi, and locked them carefully in cupboards. Vidyaraj's wife Indumathi felt, that one should not keep such sacred treasures without proper pujas and Vidyaraj was not willing to spent his time and money on such rituals. Instead, he told her that he would hand over the shaligrams to a temple. But surprisingly the legal hurdles in gifting them away proved onerous and Vidyaraj found no takers for the valuables.
Thus frustrated Vidyaraj decided to clean up the valuables with soap and brush and as he went on with the scrubbing, he realized that they appeared to be rubies of immense size. Ever the cautious lawyer, he locked the stones away again and began reading books on gemmology in his spare time. As his knowledge of precious stones improved, he took the smallest of the stones out, and began taking it around to various gem cutters in the city. He would ask one to clean it, another to cut it, a third to start making facets and so on.
Soon Vidyaraj found himself in possession of five priceless rubies, inherited unknowingly by his ancestors after the break up of the Vijayanagar empire, including three world-record rubies weighing in at 3,600, 2,475 and 1,370 carats. It is surmised that they were adorned in the crown of Emperor.The gems achieved overnight craze when they were first exhibited in Europe. Ever since then Vidyaraja has been is trying to sell them, but he could not find a person who can buy them.
The most famous authorities in gemology agreed to the genuineness of these rubies, later confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records and Vidyaraj should have become a billionaire and that too in dollars.But that was not to be.
For, once it was established that the rubies were the treasures of the the 16th century Vijayanagar empire, the Indian antiquities law, which forbids the sale of any national heirloom more than one hundred years old, made any possible sales of the rubies outside India illegal.
And if sold in India, the Indian price would have been a fraction of what could have been obtained in international auctions. It is pertinent to note that many treasures, much lower in value than these rubies, have been smuggled out/sold in the western world, without the Indian Government being aware of the deals. But Vidyaraj wants to abide by the law.
Quite understandably, although he is trying to sell his gems on the Internet web, Vidyaraja is not willing to do business with all and sundry, but expects good references from potential buyers. "I want to sell these pieces of rubies either through auction or by private sale," he says. Over the years, security both for himself and his stones has become a major concern, as Vidyaraj has been hounded by crank calls, kidnap threats and even extortionists. He has had police protection on and off.
Now the 75 plus Vidyaraj has decided that the money from the sale of these rubies ( if sold) would be devoted to humanitarian causes, like the work of helping patients suffering from terminal diseases like cancer and AIDS. It remains to be seen whether he is able to sell these heirlooms in his life time, without breaking the law.
-(Maharaja Features)

Wanna Dress Cool!
By Dolly Sagar
What is fashion is a debatable question. To you, it may be -looking hot and sexy is trendy. Others may consider being elegant and classy as the ultimate fashion, Some feel that it is a matter of attitude. Some feel that it is a sort of romancing the body and being able to look good and feel good. But the main reason is that the majority feels that one should be able to stand out in a crowd and be noticed in a positive way.
As such the main task of the designers is to ensure that their outfits look different and are different. Yes.. often their creations may not be original, but with some imagination, sharp styling and still more desirable smart packaging, they can guarantee a new look.
The outcome of these efforts is a sort of 'version clothing". This has resulted in some extreme designs - sort of sequined T shirts by Radhika Ravi and Krishna Sobhani, meant to be body hugging dress and worn as such.
This need to catch attention is also turning old conventional dress like churidar to a type of churidar pant, similar to leotard tights by Sanjeeva Reddy and salwars become hip cargo trousers, provided with patch pockets and mutliple zippers. Embroideries like kantha and appliqu‚ over delicate block prints provide good contrast.
Some of the fashion designers like Kareena Rajpal have contemporized the Tibetan bakhu skirt into a sort of wrap sarong , to be worn with ( believe me or not) with Nepalese angarkah tops or blouses in bright red and orange. To borrow from China and Japan, mandarin collars and kimono jackets fashioned out of rich brocade with broad waistbands gives the attire a distinct pan- asian look.
Designers working with soft silks with colours like burnt orange and burgundy make it a point to have a dash of orientalism, whether it be Thai or Indonesian or Chinese in their creations.
Incidentally the humble Indian lungi, especially favoured by Tamilandu and Kerala (known jocularly as 'cut straight and long') seems to have taken a reincarnation into sexy sarongs with rich hues of orange and fuschia and with tribal motifs printed from the Northeast India, especially from Manipur/Nagaland? Arunachal Pradesh.
One advantage is that the lungi turned into sarong can be worn with almost everything ranging from T- shirts/drapetops/waistcoats/wraptops. Champa Singh's and Leena Shah's use this advantage to show quite a number of Indonesian motifs in their sarong creation.
But all these innovations have their exceptions also. For example Chandrika Mathur's collection of dusty, cool pastel trousers and skirts teamed with light coloured brocade shirts and kurtas, are an example of so called 'soul dressing". Incidentally the laidback lounge look has made a comeback.
Manoj Thakurta has described his lycra T shirts with Mughal prints, basically in jodhpur blues, as Classic chic. You can place Rama Guha's digital prints inscribed T shirts and Bala Venkat's sequin decorated Maharani kurtas in the same category.
In Harish Vandana's much appreciated Khadi collection, the plain T shirt takes the form of off shoulder tops, the sleeveless vests take body hugging shapes, camisoles have smocked sleeves and the long knit cardigans are meant to go with tiered skirts.
Vandana explains that the idea is to create a feminine look/feel based on loose, limp unstructured clothing. This is easily expressed in knitware with understated shades like ivory and off white.
Padma Thakur's classics take shape, as she re invents the classic Indian choli into a leather blouse, combining it with silk lehengas and zardosi covered shararas. With delicate tonal embroidery decorated stoles the set is complete.
The same innovations mark when it comes to gent's wear. Padma Thakur explains that today the Indian male is more eager to be adventurous than his forbears, as shown by the corduroy fabric sherwanis, bandgalas often in pure pristine white, decorated with elegant tone on tone d‚cor, so as to show out the embroidery and buttons.
Jagdish Aurora also takes the similar approach, but sticks to the camouflage combat look, so as to show the military chic designs with multiple zipper additions.
When it comes to military oriented designs, we have Chandra Sreshta, who has ensured that glitzy gold corsets are paired with olive green combat pants for ladies. For the more adventurous types, we have Mrinalini Sen, who has made beautiful designs by combining capris with bright coloured velvet jerseys, balloon skirts over lycra pants and kimono blouses coupled with broad waist belts.
With capable genius like Ritu Kumar, the ordinary Indian petticoat has been transformed into crinkled peasant skirt. Deepika Govind has made these petticoats more attractive by combining it with voluminous balloon skirts, while plain georgette pyjamas get transformed into tie 'n' dyed wrap over trousers. Then again there are various forms of cargo trousers/low crotch harem pants, thus ensuring that the Indian designer ensures that you are cool!.
-(Maharaja Features)

Sherlyn Chopra Wants To Change The Face Of Bollywood
By V. Ananth
When congratu-lated on her re-cently released film Red Swastik directed by Vinod Pandey, Sherlyn says that she has learnt the biggest lesson in her life after working with Vinod Pandey in the film.
"Good roles are not enough for an up and coming actor. It is very necessary to work with aggressive filmmakers who know how to promote their films. When I asked him why Red Swastik was not being released in multiplexes, he passed on the buck to the distributors who he said did not book the multiplexes. Though I wanted him to place my name as Sherlyn, he adamantly chose to give me the name Menka Chopra in the film, because he has this bizarre obsession with the name Menka"
Sherlyn says that she now realizes why Shiney Ahuja had sarcastically told her "All The Best" when she had told him that she was working in Vinod Pandey in his film Red Swastika. "Like me, Shiney also was given a raw deal by Vinod when he had cast him in his film 'Sins' before his Hazaar Khwaishein Aisi Hai was released. An actor gives his or best to the director. In return, what does he or she get? The director gives false hopes and plays with an individual's feelings".
Sherlyn asserts. "I will never again work with a filmmaker like Vinod Pandey. I am ashamed why I had to mouth my dialogues like a seductress. Vinod wanted me to overact all the time. Can't you seduce even without nakhras? At 22, when I can understand, why can't Vinod pandey who is a veteran in this industry understand what the difference between real and fake is? ÿ ÿÿÿ
Sherlyn has had four releases earlier before Red Swastik. They were 'A Film By Aravind' (Telugu), Time Pass, Naughty Boys and Game. Sherlyn has no qualms to confess that she is unhappy with all her ÿHindi releases till date including Red Swastik. "I have always been a A grade school topper and also No 1 in all the church activities. Look at myself now. I am a failure.
I go to bed with tears every day. I suppose that is the price, which I have had to pay for being na‹ve and stupid. Yahan log bol bachan karte hain but do not know how to promote their films"
It is time for confessions. Sherlyn confesses that it was immature on her part to have sent a legal notice to a leading evening newspaper in Mumbai when it wrote something negative about her. "If the media can write negative things about Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, who am I? I realized my serious mistake. I had to pay the price for blindly trusting my PRO, who instead of advising me to take the whole thing with a pinch of salt provoked me to send the legal notice to Mid-Day."
Sherlyn hates being compared to Mallika Sherawat just because she does not mind throwing her inhibitions and is bold enough to flaunt her figure in revealing clothes. "Mallika Sherawat and I are poles apart. I respect Mallika because she is a fighter, but I am not trying to be another Mallika Sherawat because I am not limiting my acting abilities. As an actor, I want to do roles with all shades. I do not keep track of my kissing scenes in films, whether I have done 17, 24 or for that matter 30 kisses. I want people to understand that I am not aping any one else.
I am what I am. Why does no one ask me the number of times that I have cried in a film or the number of times I have felt jealous in any film. Like crying and getting jealous, even kissing is an emotion. It is the best expression of fondness and feelings."
Sherlyn continues. "Asking an actress how many times she has kissed in a film is like asking a sipahi in jung ka maidan how comfortable is he while firing and how many bullets has he fired in the battlefield. If Halle Berry or Anjelina Jolie resort to kissing on the screen, it does not bother any one of us here but if a desi actress sets out to kiss, it becomes a sensational news"
As an actor, Sherlyn says that she likes to keep on questioning because she loves to get answers. "I want to show the world who the real Sherlyn Chopra is. Just because I have had a down-market past in the industry, it does not mean that I cannot do a A- grade film. I feel I am born to set standards wherever I go. I was ugly when I was a child. When I was a teenager, I had no boy friends and preferred to be with books 24/7. Today I have become just the opposite." Sherlyn has decided not to take things lying down in the industry. "I want to set up a huge studio model after establishing myself as an actor here in Bollywood and change the face of Bollywood. I will show that I do not have to dance to any one's tunes. I believe that true success is when you lead your life on your own terms and do films which you truly believe in."
-(Maharaja Features)

Enchanting Chenab Valley
By G.L Khajuria
Literally speaking, Chenab seems to have been derived from a Persian word `Cheen' (China) and `Aab' (water) which when joined together connotes `China's water' but the learned school of thoughts negate it and construed it as "Cheen-Aab", finding its (Chenab's) origin from `Lahul- Spiti Valley' which virtually on many accounts attribute that Chenab's origin emanates from "Tandi" - a small village or hamlet adjoining Himachal Pradesh, neighbouring state of Jammu and Kashmir. Chenab River finds its origin in Sanskrit texts also. As per `Nilamatapurana' this river has its origin from higher reaches (Chandrabhaga) confluencing Chandra (Moon) with Bhaga (virtue or luck) at Atholi, some 65kms from krishna and as such emanated its name as "Chandrabhaga" - The River Chenab.
From "Lahul - Spiti", Chenab river sweeps down gorgeously, taking twists and turns on sharp bends that are at some locations too narrow and too deep. It runs equally majestically at its other route that has broader widths all along the underlying bed - rocks of sub-Himalayan Precambrian region.
This river passes "Pangi Valley" (HP), down below Dharwas, Padder, Bhanderkote, Marwah, Warwan, Nun Kun peaks adjoining Zanskar and thereafter gushing down with fiery foaming currents of water it joins Siraj of Doda district. After flowing down Ramban and confluencing enroute with smaller rivers, rivulets, streams and small nullahs viz. Kalani, Kalguni, Bhalassa, Neru and others which come in its way, Chenab reaches Akhnoor in full glory.
On the either sides of Chenab exist lush-green, beautiful mountains, cliffs and uplands with quite enchanting multihued Pines, Quercuses and evergreen flowery and honey dewed meadows. This is what else than bountiful natural beauty although it is hidden and not tiptoed.
Perched upon hard rock lies the erstwhile Doda district, that was once headquater but now diversified into two more districts viz. Kishtwar and Ramban, is serene, scenic and beautiful spot beside the river Chenab. Doda district is home to around 6,90,500 people. Places falling in this district include Thathri, Bhalessa, Ramban and Banihal etc. This district has the biggest forest area that has Deodar, kail, Fir, spruce, Maple, Oak, Walnut trees in abundance.
Chanderbhaga or Chenab in its back drop of vibrant vegetative cover is Nature's self-speaking grandeur and glory. This river has enroute on it 'Dul Hasti and 'Salal Hydroelectric Projects apart from Baglihar (Batote) and Sawalakote (Reasi) projects that are in process. The district is a treasure trove of world famous sapphire mines in Padder, Zinc in Ramsu and ruby gems in Kishtwar apart from timber, minerals, woolen clothes (Pattu and Lois), fruits, anardana (dried pomegranate seeds), guchiyan, herbs, medicinal and aromatic plants and allied minor forest produce.
The entire belt of Bhaderwah finds overriding importance as far as its serene, scenic beauty is concerned. It has wide pine forests, perennial springs, streams and rivulets and perhaps, that is why it is believed to be abode of 'Gods', Goddesses' and 'Nag Rajas'.
The enchanting Chenab Vallety also has in its lap pious sacred shrines. One such is Gupt Ganga. Barely half a mile away from Vasuki Nag Temple is another temple of Lord Shiva. It nestles at the foot of the 'Ashapati' mountain' that reaches height around 9000 ft. To one side of the temple flows a nullah coming down from 'Kailash Lake'. There is a cave at this place where from water gushes out and falls on 'Shiv-Lingam' which is claimed to have come from "Munchder Nullah" flowing nearby. A magnificient temple stands over this Shiva- Lingam.
Other sacred places that lie in the lap of this enchanting valley include Kailash Kund, also named as Kaplash. This is perhaps the holiest pilgrimage for the locals as well as devotees from far flung areas who visit here on 'Triyodshi' after a fortnight of Raksha Bandhan' every year. The Valley also has temple of "Bhagwan Vasuki Nag' which is situated at Gatha (Bhaderwah town) that is considered abode of Shakti. Devotees visit here from far-flung areas while on their way to Kailash Yatra that is held in August every year.
Atop 'Kailash Kund', is situated the lake of Mata Saraswati (Goddess of wisdom and intelligence) and as the legend goes when "Vasuki Nag" was chased by 'Garud', 'Mata Saraswati' came to his rescue and flooded holy water from her lake to "Kailash Kund". 'Naga' flee from the spot and took shelter in the Kund and thus was rescued 'Naga' from 'Garud'.
Chinta valley of Bhaderwah, undoubtedly, is nothing less that a place that has abundant Natural beauty, flora and fauna. Nestling amongst high mountainous and cliffy terrain lies beautiful town called Kishtwar. It is a land of mosques, dargahs and Zirarats. All these places are in the lap of "Proud Chenab Valley" - the most enchanting and bewitching valley. An aerial view of Patnitop, Batote, Sanasar, Chanderkote, Ramban, Banihal, Desa, Siraj, Marmat, Chinta, Jai Nalthi, Hanga, Bhalessa, Inderwal, Atholi, Machail, Dacchan, Marwar, Warmar, Padder, Pogul and Kishtwar which has high altitude National Park that includes some 250 kms of areas is a home to many rare animals and birds, gives a panoramic picture of Chenab Valley.

The Memory Of Our Nation
By Vinaya Kumar
The National Archives of India situated in New Delhi is virtually the Memory of our Nation, as it enshrines all our archival history, especially since 1748. Its record holdings run into 40 kilometres of shelf-space area. Besides English, the records are in Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Sanskrit and Urdu.
In its archives are works as old as the Gilgit inscriptions dating from the early centuries of the Christian era. The total holdings comprise of 35,25,996 files; 1,92,135 volumes; 1,10,333 maps and cartographic items; 3,601 Bills assented to by the President(s) of India 1065 Treaties and 2442 rare manuscripts. In addition, there is a rich collection of private papers apart from more than 7000 microfilm rolls of records acquired from different countries such as Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Myanmar, United Kingdom and United States . The records are broadly of four categories: public records, oriental records, manuscripts and private papers. These records focus on the activities of the later Mughals, the British East India Company, the British Rule and the emergence and growth of the freedom struggle.
The major collections of Indian private papers in National Archives are those of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dadabhai Naoroji, Field Marshal (Rtd.) K.M. Cariappa, P.S. Sivaswamy Aiyer, M.R Jayakar, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Patel, G.K. Gokhale, Ramanujam and Purushottam Das Tandon. These papers offer insight into different phases of our Freedom struggle,
The National Archives of India is an attached office under the Ministry of Culture. It was set up in March 1891 at Kolkata as the Imperial Record Department and shifted to New Delhi following the transfer of the capital in 1912. It was intended as a permanent solution to the management, storage and preservation of government records. The first archivist was Sir G.W. Forrest, a noted scholar and administrator. Forrest was succeeded by a series of British archivists such as Samuel Hill, Denison Ross and Alwyn Scholfield. The Imperial Record Department was transferred to Delhi with the completion of the present building in 1926 although the transfer of records was not completed until 1937. The Imperial Record Department was renamed the National Archives of India with independence in 1947. The National Archives employs over 500 staff, many of whom have scientific qualifications as well as records management skills. Approximately 50 per cent of the staff hold a relevant qualification and many have worked in the institution for over 15 years.
Since 1947 the National Archives of India has established three regional offices at Bhopal, Jaipur Bhubaneshwar and Pondicherry. Whenever important microfilms of nationally important documents are made, it is ensured that one copy is sent to the regional office at Bhopal as a safety measbure.
It is not realized that spread over the twenty eight states of India, there are literally hundreds of public and private archives. The National Archives of India has no administrative control over the State Archives. However, it tenders professional and technical advice and assistance to states for proper management of records and their use for historical research and development. It also provides financial assistance to State Archives for proper up-keep, publication and microfilming of rare manuscripts/books in their custody.
On July 6,1998, the President Shri K.R. Narayanan declared open the Museum of the National Archives to the general public . Among the hundreds of exhibits on display are the Parwana of Ala Khan in Persian dated 19 October 1352 (Oldest document on paper in National Archives of India), the document ordering the Execution of Mangal Pandey, an event which led to the Great Uprising of 1857, and seals of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab.
In 2001 the new annexe of the National Archives at a cost 20 crores of rupees was completed.Among the valuable records deposited in the Annexe are hundreds of documents of the historic 'Gandhi murder trial papers' containing testimonies, police records and special branch reports.
It should be noted that the National Archives receives only a small percentage of the amount required for the up to date maintenace of its facilities. Many international scholars who have worked in the National Archives of India give it only 70 percent marks. They point out that many priceless documents of the Indian Freedom Movement, like the letters of Mahatma Gandhi & Pandit Nehru are not with the archives, but with the Nehru Memorial Museum, whose executive body/research facility policy changes with each new government.
Some files up to 1947 are still closed due to political sensitivities. Otherwise, the 30 year rule of throwing open the records to researchers applies and it is up to the originating agency to declassify records. However, it should be noted that the existence of these finding aids for government records does not necessarily indicate that the records are available. Up to 40 per cent of requests for records (especially those for the pre-1947 period) can be returned as 'NT or Not Traceable'.
-(Maharaja Features)

Use The Brahmaputra Or Lose It
By K. Vasudeva
In the 1950's we lost the 38000 square kilometre Aksaichin plateau in Kashmir to the Chinese, as we did not safeguard it. In the 2000's we are losing the mighty Brahmaputra to the Chinese. As it is, calculated by computer, the world population in 2050 would be 9.4 billion humans as compared to 6.6 billion in 2007. By 2050, the world will be so short of water, that major wars might be necessary to ensure the rights of lower riparian nations. After all, only one percent of the total volume of the water in the earth is potable!.Based on what is China trying to do to harness the Brahmaputra, when their task is completed, it will be too late for us. Unless we make a well planned attempt to utilize the waters of this great river Brahmaputra, to the maximum extent possible, international conventions regarding rights of upper riparian/lower riparians of rivers will make it difficult for us to mobilize world opinion against this river loot.
Like India, two of the most acute problemsÿChina faces today, are food and water. These two issues are closely linked and to irrigation facilities 'Hydrologically, there are two Chinas - the humid south, which includes the Yangtze River basin and everything south of it, and the north, which includes all the country north of the Yangtze basin. The south, with 700 million people, has one third of the nation's cropland and four fifths of its water. The north, with 550 million people, has two thirds of the cropland and one fifth of the water. As such the water per hectare of cropland in the north is one eighth to that of the south.' The easiest way for China to sort out the matter is to utilize the Brahmaputra and its tributaries to provide the water required.
Originating from a glacier near Kailash, the 2,906 km long Brahmaputra is the largest river
on the Tibetan plateau and the highest on earth. Known as the Tsangpo in China, it traverses, its first stretch of 1,625 km in Tibet, the next 918 km in India and the remaining 363 km through Bangladesh before converging into the Bay of Bengal.
China has found out that in Tibet the Brahmaputra's gorge forms the longest and the deepest canyon in the world. It is in this Great Gorge, that China is planning one of the most important projects of the diversion scheme. There are two parts: One is the construction of the world's largest hydroelectric plant on the Great Gorge dwarfing all other similar projects (it will generate 40,000 megawatts, more than the total hydro electricity produced India in 2006). The second is the diversion of the waters of the river into a dam with the capacity of 300 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) which will be pumped northward across hundreds of kilometers of mountainous region to China's northwestern provinces of Xinjiang and Gansu. Taking into view that it is impossible to divert the mighty Brahmputra conventionally, China is planning to accomplish this project "with nuclear explosives"
The estimated capacity of the Brahmaputra is 590 BCM. Without any dams to curtail it, at the moment, 500 BCM of water flows through India. With China intercepting 300 BCM, India will get only 200 BCM, compared to the 500 BCM we are getting today. But by harnessing the 30 tributaries of the Brahmaputra, which flow through Arunachal Pradesh, India can get another 150 BCM, still short by 50 BCM. This projects will cost a lot and is not likely to be completed whereas, China is planning out its project silently and steadily, like it did in the Akshaichin.
As is known, in a parallel similar case, China had dammed the Sutlej river, without our knowledge/permission, just before it enters Indian Punjab. Other than cursory comments, they do not give warning to India, if any of the dams are over flowing and we have to solely depend on satellite photographs to get advance notice of any flooding and this makes our remedial efforts to save our population too late.
Then the question comes..Can we stop this calamity?. The answer is No..Even in India, we are thinking of linking all the rivers where possible and use it for agriculture/hydro electric production. How can you deny this right to China?.
However, given the concept of 'existing uses' in international law, existing usage in the lower riparian cannot be harmed by new projects in the upper riparian. To put it differently ,if India
develops its river basin in its territory, before China, then it would not be right for that country to implement projects, that would affect the completed projects in India.
The bitter fact is that India doesn't have the luxury of time. In a democratic set up like ours, we cannot force states, like Arunachal Pradesh ( with a capacity of producting 100000 megawatts, more than twice our 2006 output)to toe the line regarding sharing the benefits of hydro power projects in an all India grid. Nor can we build dams without the democratically approved compensation to the owners, whose property will be flooded. But unlike us, in China, the Central Government just imposes its decision on the citizens and the different states, when it comes to development projects..
In short, if India can develop a well synthesized plan to use the Brahmaputra , much before the Chinese complete their harnessing of the great river within the next twenty years, then we will have at least an arguable case. It is a case of Use the Brahmaputra or Lose it.
-Maharaja Features