Festival

Durga Puja Story In British Era

September 25, 2022 No Comments

We all know Durga Puja story. Durga Puja is one of the biggest festivals in Bengal and as well as in India. And not only in India but in all corners of the world. In long years the Puja has changed in many ways. But one thing remained unchanged. That is the pure bliss, the joy, the excitement that has never changed throughout the years. The style of Durga Puja in Calcutta during the British period was a little different. Even before British rule, the Durga festival was celebrated in Calcutta even during the Muslim period. Earlier, Durga Puja was not so glamorous then, Raja Krishnachandra of Nadia was the first to bring great splendor to this festival. And seeing his glorious Durga Puja festival, those who became rich during the time of the British government also started the same glorious worshiping of goddess Durga.

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Durga Puja Invitation Story In British Era

From the middle of the eighteenth century till the rule of the famous Act No. 10 of 1840, Durgoutsab was the best social festival in Calcutta irrespective of the class of the society. The joy of the natives in this festival is more than that of the company. From Esplanade to Enntali, from Latbahadur to normal clerk, no one could have dreamed of leaving Calcutta during Pujo. Most of the time they were almost ready to wait when Pujo’s invitations would come from different big houses.

Nemantanne ( Invitation) never made mistakes. During Durga Puja, Durga Puja tickets or invitation cards are used to go to different houses. At that time generous advertisements were published for the common people on behalf of the big zamindars. Advertising was an invitation for everyone. Because Babura knew, even though the occasion was Durga, this festival was the festival of the company. In the beginning, just like the money given by the company, in the end, the only desire was to get the company’s favor.

British People Holiday During Durga Puja

In the late nineteenth century, British officers based in Calcutta started going out of Calcutta with their families during Durga Pujo. They went on vacations to various places in Shimla, Manali, and Darjeeling. Following in the footsteps of the British, the Babu community in Calcutta at that time used to leave Calcutta. At that time, Durga Puja meant for them to travel outside Calcutta like the British. The Barwari Durga festival did not start in Calcutta at that time. Durga Puja used to perform only in the house of the big zamindar of Calcutta. Durga Puja was not performed in large numbers, as all the zamindars or big people in Calcutta used to travel outside Calcutta. At that time Pujo was not so glorious in Calcutta. But from that time onwards this touring tradition began. So far, the people of Kolkata have gone out of Kolkata for the Pujo holidays.

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Debt-Ridden Prisoners

Apart from various pleasures of dancing, singing, and drinking during the puja, the people of the Babu community in Kolkata used to free the prisoners who were in debt. In the old days, a class of prisoners could be released only if they repaid the loan. At that time some rich people used to repay their debts and release those prisoners. They used to release more English prisoners to please the British government. As a result, during the puja season or at the small causal court, a crowd of underage people would gather. They want to go to jail right now, before Pujo. Because the story is about the hope of liberation soon.

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Story Of 50 Rupees Durga Puja

At that time British officials used to perform Durga Puja with their own money. One of the employees of the company used to do Durgotsab with his own money. He is John Chips, the famous manufacturer of Hunter’s Annals of Rural Bengal. The popular ‘Sree Chikbahadur’ of Birbhum. When Chips set foot in Calcutta as a writer for the company in 1782, he was only sixteen years old. Within a few years, it was heard that he had been appointed Auditor General of the company. In due course (1787) he was appointed the first commercial agent of the company in Birbhum. The company traded in cotton, silk, lacquer, dyes, etc. Chips added to that, personal business. The company’s office was in Sonamukhi, and Chips’ home was in Surule, near Santiniketan. Shyamkishore, a descendant of Lord Singh of Raipur, was the dewan of chips.

He started Durga Puja in the words of his Dewan Shyamkishore to improve his business. Chips already knew about the British company’s official mood about Durgotsab. He organized the Durgo festival of the people with pomp and circumstance. And he used to believe that this Durga Pujo was the reason why his business flourished and every year Chips continued to perform Durga Pujo in his place. Mr. Chips used to spend only fifty rupees a year on this. Pujo costs only seventeen rupees. With the rest of the money, the village people used to get new clothes, and a full feast on the day of Mahasthami.

Travel

Yoga Indias Most Successful Export To The World

July 1, 2021 No Comments

Yoga is the union of body, mind and spirit. And thus, it connects the individual to the universal. It’s about realizing the connection between the finite and the infinite, manifest and the unmanifest. This practice is bringing harmony in Thought, Word and Deed. Rigveda is one among the foremost sacred, and therefore, the oldest books of human history. It’s about eight to ten thousand years old, and it may be a part of this sacred writing. Maharishi Patanjali considered being the authority on yoga propounded, nearly 5000 years ago in ancient India. Lord Krishna and plenty of saints of India have also spoken about yoga. In the middle ages, the practice was confined only to the Royal family. And therefore, the scholarly class taught to students in gurukuls after passing a rigorous test. Bhagavad-Gita says ” Yogaha Karmasukaushalam” meaning yoga is skill in action and expression.

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How Yoga Gains Empires Around The World

The beginnings of yoga date back to the Indus Saraswati Valley civilization 5000 years ago. And it was first discovered

mentioned in the Vedas. More coded and organized. When Patanjali established his knowledge of this technic when he composed the Yoga Sutras around 400 AD, it was forgotten until the recovery of Swami Vivekananda in the late 1860s. Although Patanjali’s practice was aimed at attaining samadhi or knowledge, the rituals that came many centuries after his writings were meant to engage physically and mentally and enhance the living experience.

In 1893, when Swami Vivekananda travelled to Chicago to address the Parliament of the World Religions, he became interested in yoga by drawing attention to the practice. After that, this practice has gained a different dimension around the world. While the practice was accepted with arms wide open throughout the world.

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The Rise Of Ancient Yoga

The rise started with the two Indian celebrated yogis, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and Sivananda. They established Hatha Yoga, the modern form of the practice that we know today. Krishnamacharya’s Mysore School of Hatha Yoga gave the world three leading yogis-B.K.S. Iyengar, T.K.V. Desikachar and K. Pattabhi Jois, men who have been responsible for the global ubiquity of yoga.

The virtues of yoga practice are slowly spreading all over the world. The fascination began in the 1940s, thanks to the efforts of Indra Devi or Eugenie Peterson. Peterson was an actor before she came in contact with Krishnamacharya and became one of his disciples-the first woman and foreigner to get the opportunity. After training for several years as his disciple, Devi travelled with the gospel of yoga to China and then to Hollywood. Indra Devi Often called the ‘First Lady of Yoga. Devi went where many others didn’t and attracted the West to this ancient practice by restructuring it to appeal to Western sensibilities.

The Significance Of June 21-International Yoga Day

June 21st, the day of uninterrupted summer, transforms the passage of the sun into the sky from north to south. The yogi and mystic, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, explains: “In yogic lore, the first transmission of yoga by Shiva. And the Adiyogi, to his seven disciples, the Saptarishis, said to initiated on the first full moon after the summer solstice, which celebrated as Guru Purnima. This period, known as Dakshinayana, hailed as the phase when there is natural support for those pursuing spiritual practices.

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Social

Whiskey Was Medicine During The Spanish Flu Pandemic In 1918

May 24, 2021 No Comments

Cover picture Source By Google Image

Please note, this blog is solely about reading. It is not promoting or encouraging the idea of consuming alcohol in any form or manner. Modern science has progressed very much, and this is a humble request to all to visit or consult a doctor in any case of any medical emergency or need or guidance and follow only their advice. Alcohol consumption is injurious to health and the pursuittraveller does not support it. Be wise and chose wisdom.

The Spanish flu happened in 1918. At that time, whiskey came up as medicine for liberation. We may be drinking at home to ease the mental and emotional fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. But in 1918, during the deadliest pandemic in modern history. People with the Spanish flu were prescribed whisky for medical benefits. There were so many people infected with that flu. At that time, it was not possible to measure anyone’s fever or blood pressure separately. Doctors had to prescribe a cup of hot whiskey.

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Whiskey Was Medicine

A report from 1919, almost a year after the first outbreak of the Spanish flu, the whole world was in confusion. The report said that scientists at the time were advising the use of whiskey for flu patients. This liquid had bought peace of mind and reduce stress. And that helped to reduce the incidence of the disease a lot.

Also, an article published in The Times of India in April 1919 reported that scientists recommended whisky for flu patients “not only as a stimulant but a sedative too. It induces a sense of well-being and freedom from anxiety, which was certainly a help in resisting infection”.

A moderate amount of whiskey was used to treat people who were suffering from depression due to the severity of that epidemic. Even doctors and in many parts of the world, including England and America, used this whiskey to disinfect their bodies with flu. Actually, the medical science of a century ago did not see the magic of antibiotics then. At that time, aspirin and weak weapons like Vix Vaporab were used to treat colds. So whiskey was an intoxicating drink at the time as well as a means of surviving the cold. Whiskey was often used to anesthetize patients during operations.

The Treatment

The same picture appeared in the memoirs of Josie Mabel Brown, a nurse in the US Navy at the time. In 1918 she served in the Navy section of the Great Lakes area near Chicago. In the aftermath of the greatest epidemic in modern history, the sick patient had to be cared for equally for 16 hours or more a day. Masks and gowns have to be worn equally. But there were so many patients at that time that they could not measure anyone’s fever separately. About 6,000 patients were under their care at that time. There was no time to measure blood pressure. They had to continue the treatment with just a cup of hot whiskey.

However, it must be remembered that excessive consumption of alcohol reduces the body’s resistance to disease. Any disease does not want to be cured easily. Not only that, but drinking too much whiskey can lead to many deadly diseases.

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Doctors Debate About Whiskey’s Medicinal Merits

The medical world was split on whether or not whiskey might help with the flu or anything else. In 1916, the prestigious United States Pharmacopeia, which issued guidelines for prescription and over-the-counter drugs, removed whiskey, brandy, and wine from its list. The representative of The American Medical Association said that “the use of alcohol as a therapeutic agent should be discouraged.”

Still, many doctors continued to recommend and prescribe whiskey for the influenza pandemic. In a survey of physicians conducted by the American Medical Association, in 1922, 51% felt whiskey was a “necessary medicinal agent.

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Whiskey Sales Have Almost Tripled

Between 1918 and 1920, the Spanish flu wiped out 3 to 5 percent of the world’s population. But then everyone’s eyes were on the First World War. As a neutral country in the war, Spain did not have the manpower or the medical infrastructure to fight this epidemic. Even the king of Spain was infected with this disease. The situation in England at the time was also deplorable, as there were not enough doctors. So whiskey was an intoxicating drink at the time as well as a means of surviving the cold. Many states in the United States at the time allowed the free sale of whiskey as a treatment for flu. The same thing echoes in contemporary newspapers in Scotland and Ireland. People who drink whiskey are still a bit healthier on this scary day than the rest.

Strange figures are coming up in the statement of a whiskey seller published in a newspaper. He says sales have almost tripled since the epidemic began. Some are drinking soda, some are mixing it with East Cake or Quinine. Many said they came to buy whiskey on the advice of a doctor or after hearing from friends. There are many buyers who have never bought this drink before.

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Travel

Hampi – A Morning In The Lap Of History

April 29, 2020 No Comments

First Encounter

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in east-central Karnataka, India. It became the centre of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire capital in the 14th-century. Besides the historical background, Hampi has a magnetic charm. And my first encounter happens with it when I start my walk towards the hill at 5 am to see the sunrise.

Nothing can beat the feeling of seeing the first golden rays of the Sun, falling on top of mountains and then gradually spreading the warmth to the legacies. The sun is peeking behind the mountains with all its glory, portraying a mesmerizing sight for all wanderlusts. Every day the Sun rises with new hope, and when your soul rises with the sun that’s when you feel writing a blog. As this is kind of rising happens after trouble.

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lost My Way

I am a very timorous man and on top of that, I lost my way to sunrise point at Matanga hill and got afraid of the sudden occurrence of a snake. There was no one to help me with the right direction to the sunrise point. I was standing alone with lots of giant stones and the morning breeze touched my chubby cheek, I got a chill on my spine and the realisation of having a real spine. I looked around and felt as if nature was telling me that this was my time. The Sun was going to rise only for me that day. I heard the sound of peacocks, got a sight of fidgety squirrels running away. My fear disappeared like it never existed. I took a deep smell of the ruins of Vijaynagara. I stood there calmly, waiting to see my Sun.

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And the Sun rose, spreading its golden rays, and I felt alive. Then I needed a cup of tea. Good morning Hampi…

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