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The Panchmandir, at Tamkuhi Raj (Kushinagar), in its form today is a result of contributions from many Kings and their creative vision. In its original form, Panchmandir was a Shivala [1] commissioned by Raja Dalip Sahi. However, he passed away during its construction and his wife Rani Usmed Kuer supervised it to completion. When Raja Kharag Bahadur Sahi assumed his role after Raja Dalip Sahi, he expanded the temple by adding more shrines thereby turning a Shivala into a Panchmandir [2].
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This book has no plot, no gripping action and when you put it down, you don’t feel any sense of achievement. It’s rather tiring, and exhausting to the point you open Netflix and start watching some meaningless show. The Catcher in the Rye is a long monologue about Holden Caulfield and how everything in his world is pitted against him. As monologues go, we get to see only Holden’s justifications, and his explanations about his actions leave the reader dissatisfied. The book begins with Holden Caulfield, our phoney protagonist, and frustrated teenager, getting expelled from school because he cared little for school to the point of not attending an exam. The school management and the Principal, already tired of his behaviour, ask him to leave. Holden, the rich entitled teenager he is, decides to spend the next two days in New York before going home. In these two days, he drinks a dozen jugs of alcohol, hires a prostitute, goes on a date with his ex, just to tell her rude things, gets into brawls and eventually becomes depressed and decides to leave his family to make his ‘own way in the world of adults’.
Holden is a rich kid with a skewed view of the world, and a whiny brat. Sure, I believe we all were entitled and whiny in our teens but that’s the point of this book. It’s about Holden’s battle with the world and finding a place in a world that doesn’t care about his brother’s death, his abuse, his parents’ relationship, and a hundred other things Holden clings on to and worries about. This is the underlying message: You have to move on, irrespective of what happens, and how fucked up your own world is because the bigger world will not let you remain the child/adolescent you wish to be. There’s this beautiful piece of writing that describes the loss of innocence and sums up Holden’s thoughts. When Holden’s sister Phoebe asks him, what is it you want to be when you grow up, he says: Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. This is Holden saying that he wants to protect the little children from the snares of adulthood. Author Salinger uses this paragraph to describe the loss of innocence and how Holden hopes no one should be allowed to go through the struggles he suffered. But Salinger makes it clear that everyone should take a fall from the cliff, to discover who we are and what we can do. Holden’s little sister Phoebe was written beautifully. She has empathy and lends money to her brother and listens to everything he has to say (when he’s having a breakdown). For her age, Phoebe displays Then what she did--it damn near killed me--she reached in my coat pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head. Books involving existential questions, the idea that life is meaningless and the vanity of having a purpose are plenty, but I thought, one exclusively written from the point of view of a teenager like this, would go soft on exploring these themes. The fact that this book, written in the 1950s, is still considered as the king of coming age fiction confirms that The Catcher in the Rye aged gracefully. You’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behaviour. You’re by no means alone on that score, you’ll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You’ll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry. I wish Holden had listened to this advice from his teacher and acted upon it. One thing that racks my brain is, I, a 24-year-old, relate to Holden ninety per cent of the time. Am I still a teenager at heart? Am I still overwhelmed with the idea of stepping into adult’s clothes and the struggles that come with it? Am I still looking at my past for some relief? Team
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After Kalyan Mall, his son Raja Kshem Karan Sahi shifted his capital from Kalyanpur to Husseypur. This city then remained the capital of the Sahis for the next twelve generations until Fateh Sahi. Among the Rajas who resided at Husseypur, Kshem Karan Sahi, Jubraj Sahi, Sardar Sahi, and Fateh Sahi turned out to be the prominent ones, historically through the expansions of their kingdoms and also by establishing themselves as strong kings of the region. During the reign of the Sahis with Husseypur as the capital, the town was an important trading centre with a huge market, a fort, and temples. Though a few temples and the market survived, the fort of Husseypur was destroyed by the English during the reign of Raja Fateh Sahi. After this Raja Fateh Sahi left Husseypur to Tamkuhi. Members
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Named after Rajput Ana Singh [1], Anapur is a village in tehsil Soraon of present day Allahabad district. It is one amongst the many villages which has a few notable sites like Shrinverpur [2] and Ram Chaura [3]. Until the Haveli was established by Babu Chintaman Singh’s descendant, Babu Deokinandan Singh [4], an Amil [5] of the English, Anapur played no significant political role. In the early period of English settlement, many nobles and prominent people established themselves at important revenue and ruling positions by favor of the English. Later expanded into zamindary, Anapur was extensively developed under the supervision of Rai Bahadur Babu Bhagwati Saran Singh [6] with schools, hospitals and a model agricultural training center. As of 2020, Anapur has a bustling bazaar and holds a fair for three days on the occasion of Vijayadashami welcoming admirers into its abode. Notes
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Husseypur is a village in the district of Gopalganj in 2020’s Bihar located on the eastern banks of the Jharahi river. Established in the later part of the seventeenth century by Raja Kshem Karan Bahadur Sahi after he moved his capital from Kalyanpur. Initially Husseypur was a fort built by Raja Kshem Karan Bahadur Sahi and his successors expanded the fort and developed the village until the reign of Raja Fateh Bahadur Sahi. The halt on expansion was due to relocation of the capital by Raja Fateh Bahadur Sahi after his refusal to accept the suzernity of British thus being forced to leave Husseypur. Later, the British destroyed the fort towards the end of the eighteenth century putting an end to the vibrant centre with a significant military importance. As of 2020, the ruins of the fort still dot the area on the east bank of river Jharahi and a statue of goddess Saiyya [1] beneath an old ficus tree is all that remains. Notes
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The founder of Tamkuhi and the last Raja of Husseypur as his capital, Raja Fateh Bahadur Sahi was a man of honor and principles. I grew up hearing tales of his valor and honor. What all information, I have gathered about him from sources in literature or oral tradition, I picturise him as a tall man with an athletic build and good martial skills. He was a disciplinarian and was married to one woman during times when polygamy was a common custom in maharajas. Surprisingly he didn’t follow the rule of male primogeniture strictly and even divided his kingdom into four - one for each son rather than passing on the whole Raj to the eldest. In his old age after handing over his Raj to his sons, he became a Fakir and left for Nasik A follower of Sanatana Dharma [1], Raja Fateh Sahi belonged to the Shakta sect. He was an ardent shakti upasak [2] and never left for battle without paying homage to Goddess Shakti. When at Husseypur, he would often visit the idol of the Goddess at the base of the banyan tree near the Jharahi river [3] just outside his fort.
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Introduction yet to be updated.
Introduction yet to be updated. Introduction yet to be updated. Members
Raj Tamkuhi, the capital of Sahis’ became the seat of the House of Bagochias as a result of the revolt of Raja Fateh Bahadur Sahi against the East India Company. The story of Tamkuhi might be two hundred and fifty years old, but the family which founded it dates to a couple of centuries before Christ. Legends say that the Sahis’ are descendants of Mayura Bhatta, a descendant of Rishi Jamdagini. More than a hundred generations passed before Raja Fateh Bahadur Sahi founded Tamkuhi. During his revolt against the English suzerainty of Bengal, Raja Fateh Bahadur Sahi had to leave his then capital Husseypur and take refuge in the jungles of Bank Jogini of pargana Sidhua Jobna of then Gorakhpur District. It was here he laid foundations of Tamkuhi Raj by building a mud fort clearing the forest. Right since the inception of Tamkuhi until he gave up the throne and turned into a fakir in 1808, Raja Fateh Bahadur Sahi ensured that the British never had influence over Tamkuhi. Permanent Settlement records of 1830 show Tamkuhi under the Rajas after him. His successors added to the growth and development and by 1947, Tamkuhi became a small town with facilities for education, health, and cultural activities. Team
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On his eighty-fourth birthday on 4th March 2020, I’m delighted to release what could essentially have been an introduction to Kunwar Biseshwar Sahi in his own words. Though he left us on 9th April 1989, my Baba has had a huge impact on my life and was quite a man to learn from. I have found this handwritten note in one of his six dairies:
That’s where he stopped it. I presume this was an introduction to his autobiography considering how he had a habit of documenting events in his life. But now, we will never know for certain. Notes
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Reaching Readers Reaching Readers is a weekly campaign organized by our community to support enthusiastic readers by shipping one paperback of their choice for free. If you are interested, apply for your copy today!
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Reaching Readers Reaching Readers is a weekly campaign organized by our community to support enthusiastic readers by shipping one paperback of their choice for free. If you are interested, apply for your copy today!
On 8th November 2019, in Freiburg Germany, an “International Cultural Evening: Leave the Bubble, Come Together” took place in “Humboldtsaal”. The purpose of this event was to bring people from different cultures together and share their art-forms. Organized once every year, this event usually comprises thirty or more artists from across ten or more countries. In 2019, from our community, Mr Vaidurya Pratap Sahi & Mrs Shruti Kishore Sahi took part in it and have read two poems. The first poem titled “The Maulsari Tree” by Vaidurya Pratap Sahi and the second poem titled “Gandhi” by Rabindranath Tagore. When asked about their interest in taking part in this event, the couple informed us, “It was necessary for us to talk about convergence in society along with the message of Gandhi about not fearing to dissent.” Adding to their choices of poems, the couple even mentioned, “‘The Maulsari Tree’ narrates how modernization has changed everything around a tree located in a village while the tree just remains unchanged and is willing to serve those who sought it. On the other hand, the poem about ‘Gandhi’ talks as to how people shouldn’t bend to powers held by powerful institutions if they aren’t doing the right thing.” With musicians, singers, poets, and narrators, these events have brought many artists and art lovers under one roof for years now. Hoping that more artists are welcomed and encouraged in the years to come, we on behalf of our team would like to thank the organizer - Monika Hermann. Team
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“Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes - A book that should be read again and again till its message is truly unveiled.
When I was reading Harry Potter for the first time, I deliberately kept postponing reading the last few chapters, as I didn’t want the book to end. At the same time, I also wished to finish the book as soon as possible. I felt like, “This book must end, I can’t take this emotional turmoil anymore and I am not ready for its message.” My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to keep going. The last page left my eyes moist, legs trembling. The world around me seemed to slow down. Adoration, disgust, hopefulness, loneliness, love, peacefulness and shame are some of the emotions I felt while reading this short novel. I have never had a good opinion on self-help/management books except “Think and Grow Rich” and “The Magic of Thinking Big”. I don’t blame the books or the authors, maybe it has always been my fault because I kept reading the books without applying their offered principles. It was like learning a tip and thinking about how simple it would make my life but moving on without giving it a try.
This week I had a chance to read the book Corporate Avatars by Disha Chhabra. In the beginning, I was reluctant to even open the book, as I learned that the author is from an Indian Institute of Management, complete credit to Chetan Bhagat. After a few pages, I became too reluctant to put the book down. |