Reading this book A TIME ELSEWHERE by J P Das. It instantly put me in a time machine, transporting to the timeframe of 1864-68 when Odisha suffered from devastating famine followed by draught when millions perished. Here are few interesting anecdotes from the fascinating book recapitulated in my own words.
The British were late arrivals to Odisha, setting their footsteps in the state after conquering much of India. Looking from a breather from the plundering Marathas, the natives of the coastal state bridging Bengal and Andhra approached the English with apprehension. Both the prospective ruler and the ruled harbored mutual suspicion.
The British heard that the Odias were a stupid, ill mannered and effeminate race. The Odias, including its Zamindars (landowners) and petty kings (more like Vassals) believed the English were of a different species - Pig faced with extra large, spectra wide ears which they used to fan themselves during the summer and used as blanket during winter. The Odias were in total awe at their new rulers.
Familiarity clears fogs of boubt from the mind, slowly breeding contempt. The English looked down on their subjects and ruled with an iron hand. But the ruled, far from being timid and docile, expressed sporadic disaprovals, mostly the small but growing tribe of educated young men who made their mark in their remarkable way of protest.
One such example is UTKAL DIPIKA (The Lamp of Odisja), an Odia Magazine published for the first time on August 4, 1866 by Gourishankar Ray and Bichitrananda Das. They left no stones unturned by reporting the failure of British administration to prevent and contain the great famine of 1865-66 when millions died from starvation.
One cold winter evening of 1866 there was a hot discussion amongst four young English officers sipping Brandy inside the exclusive Station Club of Cuttack. They were pulling legs of E J Barton, the Assistant Collector of Khurda who was accused by a woman of fathering her 1 and 1/2 year old daughter in an age sans contraceptives.
Folks believed her, for the little girl was looking like a prospective English Mem with her sparkling blue eyes and reddish white skin - a genetic trait nowhere close to the generally dark complexioned Khurda men. The case was eventually dismissed for the lack of evidence in an age when DNA test was strictly fantasy.
This news about the blue eyed girl came like a bolt from the blue on that blue, starry evening at the Club as gossip filled tongues kept wagging about the spicy incident in the milieu of the bland, mundane life of the government officials. The news was first seen by Barton's counterpart from Jajpur on Utkal Dipika which he subscribed for 4 Rupees, 2 Annas for six month postage paid.
This was not the only controversial news reported on Utkal Dipika by its fearless Editor Gaurishankar. He named the Relief Magistrate Kirkwood "The thrashing Firangee" for the later'spenchant to beat his subjects at slight pretext. He once beat a Brahmin hired to cook rice at a relief camp to pulp for dereliction of duty. (Those days Brahmin cooks were hired to cook at relief camps as many upper caste Hindus would rather lose their life from starvation than lose their caste by eating anything cooked by someone from the lower caste.Brahmins being from the highest strata of the caste pyramid were the safest bet as cooks).
But the magazine did not always criticize the British Officers. It praised the dilligent efforts of Mr. Barlow, Collector of Puri who did a stupendous job during the epidemics of famine, cholera and small pox which followed one another - nature's way of population control in those days without condoms. Kudos to our forgotten heroes Gourishankar and the likes of Fakir Mohan Senapati, my mother tongue has seen this day rather than fading into oblivion.
The British were late arrivals to Odisha, setting their footsteps in the state after conquering much of India. Looking from a breather from the plundering Marathas, the natives of the coastal state bridging Bengal and Andhra approached the English with apprehension. Both the prospective ruler and the ruled harbored mutual suspicion.
The British heard that the Odias were a stupid, ill mannered and effeminate race. The Odias, including its Zamindars (landowners) and petty kings (more like Vassals) believed the English were of a different species - Pig faced with extra large, spectra wide ears which they used to fan themselves during the summer and used as blanket during winter. The Odias were in total awe at their new rulers.
Familiarity clears fogs of boubt from the mind, slowly breeding contempt. The English looked down on their subjects and ruled with an iron hand. But the ruled, far from being timid and docile, expressed sporadic disaprovals, mostly the small but growing tribe of educated young men who made their mark in their remarkable way of protest.
One such example is UTKAL DIPIKA (The Lamp of Odisja), an Odia Magazine published for the first time on August 4, 1866 by Gourishankar Ray and Bichitrananda Das. They left no stones unturned by reporting the failure of British administration to prevent and contain the great famine of 1865-66 when millions died from starvation.
One cold winter evening of 1866 there was a hot discussion amongst four young English officers sipping Brandy inside the exclusive Station Club of Cuttack. They were pulling legs of E J Barton, the Assistant Collector of Khurda who was accused by a woman of fathering her 1 and 1/2 year old daughter in an age sans contraceptives.
Folks believed her, for the little girl was looking like a prospective English Mem with her sparkling blue eyes and reddish white skin - a genetic trait nowhere close to the generally dark complexioned Khurda men. The case was eventually dismissed for the lack of evidence in an age when DNA test was strictly fantasy.
This news about the blue eyed girl came like a bolt from the blue on that blue, starry evening at the Club as gossip filled tongues kept wagging about the spicy incident in the milieu of the bland, mundane life of the government officials. The news was first seen by Barton's counterpart from Jajpur on Utkal Dipika which he subscribed for 4 Rupees, 2 Annas for six month postage paid.
This was not the only controversial news reported on Utkal Dipika by its fearless Editor Gaurishankar. He named the Relief Magistrate Kirkwood "The thrashing Firangee" for the later'spenchant to beat his subjects at slight pretext. He once beat a Brahmin hired to cook rice at a relief camp to pulp for dereliction of duty. (Those days Brahmin cooks were hired to cook at relief camps as many upper caste Hindus would rather lose their life from starvation than lose their caste by eating anything cooked by someone from the lower caste.Brahmins being from the highest strata of the caste pyramid were the safest bet as cooks).
But the magazine did not always criticize the British Officers. It praised the dilligent efforts of Mr. Barlow, Collector of Puri who did a stupendous job during the epidemics of famine, cholera and small pox which followed one another - nature's way of population control in those days without condoms. Kudos to our forgotten heroes Gourishankar and the likes of Fakir Mohan Senapati, my mother tongue has seen this day rather than fading into oblivion.
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