SAAJan2011

ISSN 0976-7266
(2) January 2011 Issue/Friday, Jan 14th 2011

South Asian Arts

An Online Journal of Cultural Expressions in South Asia

In this issue -
• Postcolonial South-
Asian diaspora
cinema
• Prayer-flags in
Tibetan Buddhism
and Tibetan
Buddhist music -
traditional and its
American
perception
• Lajja-Gauri-like
figures in a folk
culture
• Article on painting
based on Tibetan
prayer-flag
• Hindu temples of
Bangladesh - Book
review

The Goddess, Ellora (Photo – Archana Verma)

SOUTH ASIAN ARTS

An Online Journal of Cultural Expressions in South Asia

Founding Editor
Archana Verma

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NOTE – The online version of this journal is accessible at
http://sites.google.com/site/artsouthasia.
This PDF version is not meant for free distribution.
There are some articles in each issue which are fully accessible in the online site of the journal. These
are not included in the PDF version.

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This is the first issue of the second volume (i.e., second year) of South Asian Arts and in this young
life, this journal has covered a wide range of themes within the arena of South Asian arts and
culture, thus achieving its aim in a significant manner. It has also attracted attention of the scholars
from different countries, who have sent their articles for publications in this journal. The contents of
this issue as well as all previous issues are listed below.

For University and College Students and Other Readers
If you are using any of the articles in this journal for your college assignments and other writings,
please cite the name and website of this journal, title of the article, page number in case of PDF
version and the name of the author in your writings, as you'd do for a printed article.
In case you are citing substantial passages or using any of the images, please also get the permission
from the authors, whose contact details are given in each article.
We hope this issue will be of interest and use to our readers.

Archana Verma

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Content for (2) January 2011

Contesting Cultures or Negotiating Hybridity? Interrogating Brick Lane, The Namesake and I for India
by Tasleem Shakur……………………………………………………………………………...p. 7

Artistic Activity in Nepal as World Peace - Artist Profile……………………………………….p. 27
Testimonials in Stone - Pallava Rock-Cut Shrines (Part I - Mahendra Style) by Saurabh Saxena
(complete online access)
Continuity of Nari-Uttana-hasta-pada/ Aditi-uttanapada and Charkhopadaine: An Ethno-Archaeological
Study by Sachin Tiwary…………………………………………………………………………p. 43
Lung-Ta Collaborative - Living Blessings of Lo by Maureen Drdak…………………………….p. 55
Selected Hindu Temples of Bangladesh - Book Review by Archana Verma…………………….p. 63
Call for Papers…………………………………………………………………………………p. 65
About this Journal……………………………………………………………………………...p. 67

Content for (1) October 2010

Kolshi In Bangladeshi Modern Art by Lisa Banu………………………………………………p. 7
Brief Note on Tsogyal Shedrub Dargyeling Nunnery in Exile by M. N. Rajesh and Tsamchoe…p. 19
Conserving Living Religious Heritage - Maintaining Continuity and Embracing Change by Ioannis
Paolios (Full Online Access)
Threat to Afghan Heritage by Archana Verma…………………………………………………p. 32
Story of India by Michael Wood - A Review by Archana Verma………………………………..p. 34
A Bastion of South Asian Art and Culture in Philadelphia by Zoe Papademetriou (Full Online
Access)
Dance and Music in Different Religious Contexts……………………………………………...p. 37

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(1) April-July 2010 Combined Issue

James Tod the Loyalist - The American Roots of an Indian Classic by John Mc Leod…………p. 7
"World Art" and South Asia - A Dialogue on Some Problems and Perspectives by Daniel J. Rycroft
and Archana Verma…………………………………………………………………………….p. 21
Decaying Paintingts at Rachol Seminary, Goa by Archana Verma…………………………….p. 30
Parvati's Marriage in Mithila Folklore by Archana Verma………………………………………p. 33
Islamic Art and Funerary Practices by Archana Verma and Mazhar Hussain…………………..p. 36
My Name is Khan – A Critical Review by Archana Verma……………………………………..p. 44
Method of an Architect - Book Review by Archana Verma…………………………………….p. 47

Note – Following articles are included in the online journal site, which are not included in the

PDF. Please visit the journal blog site for these articles –

Lajja Gauri Type Figures in the Indus Valley by Max le Martin
Dambulla Cave Temple, Sri Lanka by Archana Verma
Performing Pasts - A Review by Archana Verma
Religious and Cultural Interaction in Mughal India by Archana Verma
Religion and Erotics in Traditional India by Archana Verma

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Contesting Cultures or Negotiating Hybridity?

Interrogating ‘Brick Lane’, ‘The Namesake’ and ‘I for India’

Tasleem Shakur

Edge Hill University, Lancashire, UK

Email - [email protected]

This is a revised version of the paper first presented by Dr. Tasleem Shakur at a conference at Hope University,
Liverpool in 2007.

Background context

This paper attempts to explore the emerging heterogenic, hybrid apparently contested south
Asian diasporic spaces as reflected by two recent novels/films and a documentary produced in the
West. Although the south Asian population had been living outside south Asia for centuries (from
the colonial time), we have observed a steady rise of immigration to the West (particularly in the
UK) since the second world war and decolonisation of the sub-continent during the late 1940s. By
the 1960s visible south Asian populations were settled in the UK and an increasing number of
people have started to migrate to America.

However, while the population increased for various political and socio-economic factors
(not discussed as it is beyond the scope of this article), hardly any literature in English seemed to be
available (or being recognised) in the Western world written by the south Asian immigrants right up
to the 1970s. Perhaps the only exception is Naipaul whose ‘A House for Mr Biswas’ (Naipaul, V.S,
1961 ) was adored as the single voice of a Trinidadian immigrant (with a south Asian descent)
writing on the life of a south Asian in England. On the other hand whilst there a rich literature of
colonial south Asian novels (and films) from the early twentieth century exist (Forster’s ‘A Passage
to India’, 1924. later David Lean’s film adaptation in 1984), very few English (or European and
North American) writers seem to have written about the south Asian diasporas and instead
continued with the portrayal of romanticised colonial spaces right up to the 1970s (The Jewel in the
Crown, 1966/1984, Heat and Dust 1975/1982 and The Far Pavilions 1978/1984). While all these
post colonial period novels set during the colonial time have been successfully made to movies or
TV serials, the only documentation of south Asian life and their interaction with their host nations
that exists are the archival footages of south Asian immigrants through news reels or of BBC short
programmes on languages intended to improve the English language skills of the new immigrants.

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From the 1980s and beyond, we suddenly experience rising number of novels, plays and
cinemas mainly written by second generation south Asians (sometimes with mixed parentage). These
include Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’ (1981), Hanif Kureshi’s ‘My Beautiful Launderette’
(1985) and Ayub Khan-Din’s ‘East is East’ (1986/1999). While this new generation south Asian
literature gained adequate recognition in the Western literary and media circles, it might well be
argued that they do not necessarily reflect the lives of the majority of the south Asian settlers in
England. In the later period we find more laid back and comical representations of south Asians
cultural spaces through a hugely successful TV serial ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ (1998-2000) and
through films, scripts and novels of Gurinder Chadha’s ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ (1992) and ‘Bend it like
Beckham’ (2002), and Meera Syal’s ‘Anita and Me’ (1997/2002). These films and novels mainly
portray the hybridisation of second generation south Asians who are having difficulties in mixing
‘south Asian tradition’ with ‘western’ culture. Also in the post 9/11 era we see the radicalisation of
south Asian Muslims and rejection of the host culture with the increased acceptance of ‘south Asian
culture’ in Hanif Kureishi’s ( My Son the Fanatic, 1997/1999). All these films still have the second
generation as lead characters while the first generation remain in the background, who tend to
romanticise (or nostalgias’ ?) their ‘lost cultural spaces’ and have difficulties in accommodating to
host cultures despite living in the West for a long time. The post 1980s south Asian diasporas
cultures are successfully translated by the above second generation writers, playwrights and film
directors but at the same time the other lesser known voices of Jatinder Varma (founder of Tara
Arts, theatre company , 1997) or Amit Chaudhuri’s ‘A strange and sublime address (1991) and
‘Afternoon Raag’ (1993) , who tend to oppose such forces but write with more south Asian cultural
ideals and inspiration seem not to have gained similar in the mainstream ‘arts and culture’ circle.

Against such a backdrop, two novels and two more recently made films (Brick Lane, 2003/
2007 and The Namesake 2003/2007) and a real life documentary (I for India, 2005) provide a
departure point in their portrayal and representation of more complex generational relationships
among people living in the diasporas along with people living in south Asia (back in ancestral home)
and those in the Western host countries of England and America. However, even with their genuine
spirit of presenting an ‘authentic’ diasporic sub-culture sprinkled with sympathetic characters (using
bilingualism) from a thousand miles away in south Asia, they still raise questions of the
writers/directors ‘positioning and location of culture’ (Crang, M, 1998 and Bhabha¸H 1994) as
observed in the reaction of a particular community in London.

In the following sections it is the intention to discuss briefly the two novels/films and
documentary separately, afterwards, attempting to trawl the commonalities and uniqueness in them
with reference to a few theoretical/conceptual cultural issues (relating to the diasporas and post-
modernity).

Brick Lane

When first published in 2003, the Bangladesh born (with mixed parentage) writer Monica
Ali’s debut novel ‘Brick Lane’ was hailed by London literary circles for its very distinctive style of
writing and for apparently providing a genuine insight into the lives of an immigrant Bangladeshi

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couple (with the arranged married Nazneen being the central character) settled in the heart of an
established Bangladeshi community in London’s East End (Brick Lane).The product description of
the book describes it as

‘an Asian immigrant girl deals cogently with issues of love, cultural difference and the human spirit

(Amazon, 2008a)

In the Amazon’s review Barry Forshaw suggests

‘In some ways, the reader is given the same all encompassing experience as in a Dickens novel:
humour and tragedy rub shoulders in a narrative that inexplorably grips the reader.’

(ibid).

While a certain section of prospective readers are lured by the Amazon description, some western
readers dig deep in the sub-culture who write

‘The Amazon review gives some idea of the story, so I’ll not repeat that. What it does not
mention is that throughout the story of Nazneen’s life in Tower Hamlets, there are letters from her
sister Hasina, back in Bangladesh. These letters vividly portray (in broken English) daily life in
Bangladesh, and the dangers of making ‘love’ marriage, reflected in the life of one of the characters
in London’ (Amazon most helpful customer reviews, a very good novel, 10 June 2003).

I suppose this distinctive feature of ‘living here and thinking there’ (Shakur, T, 2006) sort of
‘post-modern spaces’ make both the book and the film so intriguing and endearing. Monica Ali also
places special emphasis on south Asian/Bangladeshi geographical locations through highlighting a
few of her chapters (e.g. chapter one, Mymensingh district, East Pakistan, 1967; Tower Hamlets,
London, 1985; chapter 7, Dhaka, Bangladesh and chapter 8, Tower Hamlets, February and 2001). It
is interesting to note that other chapters come with no such sub-headings. In a way through the
broken English letters of Hasina, Nazneen’s life in the diasporas oscillates between Bangladesh
(both urban and rural) and London (essentially in Brick Lane). While she lives physically in East
London, cerebrally she romanticises (suffering from nostalgia) about her either bygone days or about
the changing life of her sister. In a way there is no ‘contestation of spaces’ between ‘back home’
(Bangladesh) or her current diasporas (in London). Up until she meets Karim she negotiates well
between the two separate worlds. Firstly with Karim’s attention and later with the radicalisation of
the ‘cultural space of East London’ (following the events of 9/11 and racial tensions in the West),
Nazneen seems to compromise her Bangladeshi values and becomes a ‘hybrid’ south Asian woman
with acquired virtues of the western liberalist views. While Nazneen is the central character of the
book it seems her failed (somewhat obnoxious) husband Chanu comes out as the real warrior.
Unlike Nazneen, despite living for over thirty yearss in the East End’s Bangladeshi diasporas,

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Chanu remains quite uncompromising and contests with oppressing western culture in his own way.
While Nazneen continues to dress like a traditional Bangladeshi village woman in London, Chanu
from the very outset has old fashioned English outfits but retains his traditional eastern values of
life.

The novel faced criticism from a section of Bangladeshi community leaders living in Brick
Lane soon after the publication in 2003 claiming

‘that it portrayed Bangladeshis living in the area as backward, uneducated and
unsophisticated, and that this amount to despicable insult.’

(Lea and Lewis, 2006)

The chair of the Brick Lane Traders’ Association even claimed that ‘community groups’
prevented Monica Ali from being awarded the Booker prize (ibid).

Along with the shooting of the film in Brick Lane in 2006 there had also been a campaign by
a community action group in Tower Hamlets to stop the production and the film crew were later
forced to shoot the rest of film elsewhere. While many from the public and literary circles backed
both the novel and the production of the film, there has been a surprising attack by the controversial
writer/broadcaster Germaine Greer, geared both towards the writer’s ‘cultural positioning’ and the
novel’s ‘representation’ of the Bangladeshi community in Brick Lane (The Guardian, 2006). Greer
lashes out in a typical post colonial discourse

‘Her approach to her Bengali character is not all that different from Paul Scott’s treatment of his Indian
characters in The Raj Quartet. An author may say she loves and respects the characters she has created. But what
hurts is precisely that she has dared to create them’

(Greer, G 2006)

Shakur and D’Souza (2003) interrogated such representation of the colonial period ‘Here we
detect a line of south Asian male characters with mixed loyalties contesting the cultural space in
which they live, from Foster’s (Passage to India) Dr Aziz as our prototype, through the Nawab
(Heat and Dust) the poet Noor of In Custody and George Khan in East is East (Shakur, T and
D’Souza, K op cit: 82). One wonders if it is a farfetched notion to compare Dr Aziz of ‘Passage to
India’ (Forster, E, M 1989) with Chanu in ‘Brick Lane’ (Ali, M 2003). There had also been some
approval from a previously dissatisfied section of the Bangladeshi community to see the book being
adapted in film as seen in BBC Asian Network site:

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Anonymous

..being a sylheti myself I see this type of life most of the time. Monica ali’s book is absolutely
brilliant. I’d love to see it made into a film.

(BBC, 2008)

When the slightly depoliticised film adaptation of Brick Lane by Sarah Gavron was released
in 2007, apart from Prince Charles’s apparent diplomatic late withdrawal to attend the premiere,
there had been a warm reception from both the critics and public (including some from the
community). A few of such comments from various ‘Brick Lane film review’ websites are listed
below.

Roshal Said

Posted on Nov 22 2007

Being a Bengali and having similar experiences once upon a time, this film portrayed each and every
second, as real as it gets.

(Time Out, 2008)

Better than novel.

Indeed Nazneen is not that complex character, as the time review states, but I liked Chanu’s
evolving (or slowly revealing) character

Davegg

The New York Times, June 25, 2008

(Movies, 2008)

Critics like Gary Duncan when reviewing the DVD version of the film even compares the
quality with Satyajit Ray or early Merchant Ivory films (Eye for Films 2006-2007).

The film would perhaps appeal more by its subtle technique of using flash backs of rural
Bangladesh (Nazneen’s home) and cutting to present-day grim housing conditions (reminiscent of
Satyajit Ray’s ‘Apur Sansar/The world of Apu’, 1959) and beautifully presenting the romantic
scenes. But one cannot say it is completely depoliticised, as a strong scene of Chanu undermining

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the ‘radical Islamic thoughts’ with more secular stance by comparing how three million Muslims
were killed by West Pakistani soldiers during 1971 seems. The film maker also diffuses the political
tension of the book (where Chanu uses derogatory words against the Sylheti inhabitants of Brick
Lane) by omitting that in the adaptation. These are not new techniques of diffusing tensions as has
been previously used by established film makers like David Lean in his adaptation of ‘Dr
Zhivago’(1965) or ‘A Passage to India’ (1984). As observed by Shakur and D’Souza (2003) where
they described Dr Zhivago was made more of a romantic film rather than a political one (Shakur, T
and D’Souza, K, op cit:1-15 and 77-94).

The Namesake

Almost at the same time Monica Ali’s ‘Brick Lane’ appeared, across the Atlantic another
transnational writer Jhumpa Lahiri writes a similar novel on immigrant identity and cultural loyalty in
her hugely successful write up after her Pulitzer prize winner in 2000 for the story book ‘
Interpreter of Maladies’ (Lahiri, J, 1999). This second book of Lahiri ‘The Namesake’ when first
published in 2003 received a similar rousing reception from American literary circles. This caused no
controversy but instead drew rather more complimentary comments from the critics when a
successful adaptation to film by the Indian critical film director Mira Nair made in 2006 and
coincidentally released in the same year with the release of Brick Lane in 2007. Google book search
reviews this novel in context to her debut collection to her story book as

‘The Namesake, Lahiri enriches the themes that made her collection and international
bookseller: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation, and, most
poignantly, the tangled ties between generations. Here again Lahiri displays her deft touch for the
perfect detail-the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase-that opens the whole worlds of emotion’

(Books Google, 2008)

Dealing with similar subject matters of immigration, and exploring identity in contesting
spaces like in ‘Brick Lane’, Jhumpa Lahiri takes a more of traditional approach of locating the newly
migrant couple Ashok and Ashima in Boston 1968 as Ashima prepares for her first child delivery in
the maternity hospital. Also unlike ‘Brick Lane’, the story does not oscillate between the diasporas
(Boston) and ‘back home’ (Calcutta) through letters from Nazneen’s sister Hasina, but gradually
infolds as a chronological narrative both in the US and India through their travels. While ‘Brick
Lane’ focuses on the new rural migrant Nazneen in London (almost similar time frame as of Ashima
of ‘The Namesake’ in Boston) in ‘The Namesake’ it puts more emphasis on inter generational
changing relationships focusing more on ‘Gogol’ the second generation son of Ashok and Ashima
Ganguli. Also, unlike in ‘Brick Lane’, in ‘The Namesake’ we find two interesting characters of
Gogol’s two lovers (one indigenous white American Maxine and the other transnational second
generation Bengali woman, Moushami) who are sympathetically portrayed with tragic consequences.

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In a way this mix (or to some extent of confused identity and loyalties) of second generation Karim
in Brick Lane could be compared with Gogol in ‘the Namesake’. The second generation Gogol’s
lover (and for a brief period his wife, Moushami) and sister (Sonia) show more adaptation of
western culture than either Gogol or Karim. We see a similar resemblance between Gogol’s sister
Sonia and Nazneen’s older daughter Shahana (who are more resilient to keeping traditional Bengali
culture). Probably the main difference between the characters in ‘Brick Lane’ and ‘The Namesake’is
in the class representation of two immigrant families in London and Boston. Both Nazneen and
Chanu come from lower class rural and lower middle urban Bangladesh where Ashok and Ashima
are from a more established middle middle class in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and therefore we see
marked differences both in their adaptability and acceptances with western cultures although both
parties have strong respect and yearning for ‘back home’ Bengali/Bangladeshi cultures. A few
customer reviewers of Amazon.com illustrate their profound liking for the novel. Richard Nelson
from Chicago, IL through his title ‘A Novel Idea’ writes on the novel’s paperback edition on August
11, 2004 as

‘…The namesake has breathtaking beauty, and I enjoyed it –very much, in fact. Indeed it feels like
one of Lahiri’s short stories about an Indian immigrant expanded to fill a novel, or even like a series
of short stories about the same people, but disjointed. Rather than following a plot, Lahiri follows a
life; this is a brave and admirable choice that causes the novel to meander just as a life does’.

(Amazon, 2008b)

Such comments remind us of the Bengali modernist writers like Rabindranath Tagore
(Tagore’s ‘Golpogucchho’ or Bundle of Stories written between 1891-1895) or of a latter day Bengali
novelist Bibhutibhushan Banarjee’s film adaptation by Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar (The world of Apu
in 1956) which deal with the life of a Bengali rural migrant in the slum of Calcutta in the early
twentieth century. Both writers wrote their short stories and novels in the similar format of
following a life.

Debbie Lee Wesselmann from the Lehigh Valley, PA USA writes on the ‘hybridity’ and
‘cross cultural’ aspects of the novel without compromising the strong emotion in same review page
(Amazon, op cit) under the title of ‘A fine novel about a transplanted Bengali family’

‘…Rich with detail and infused with affection, this novel has a lyricism that brings the
Gangulis’ world to life without exoticism. The description of food-Indian, French, American-is so
exactly decadent that one should not read this book hungry’

Paying tribute to this book as ‘an excellent debut novel’ of Jhumpa Lahiri, Gregory Baird
comments from Morristown, NJ describing the struggle for the second generation Diasporas family
assimilating with the western culture while upholding their root tradition.

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‘….The beautiful prose draws you into the story of Gogol, the son of immigrants from India named
after the Russian author. The Namesake is about the gap between Gogol and his family—he born
into America and wanting to fit in with our society, his parents unable to go to the land and the
customs they grew up with. Gogol spends his life distancing himself from them and their ways,
somewhat desperately trying to assimilate himself to the American way of life. It is very relatable,
very real story that feels close to the reader’s heart and it is true to life. This is all thanks to Jhumpa
Lahiri, an author with a unique understanding of complex human emotions and an incredible ability
to convey them to the reader’

(Amazon, op cit page 5 of 7).

The 2006 film adaptation by Mira Nair (a trans national film maker) who has already made a
number of successful migration and diasporas films (Salaam Bombay 1988, Mississippi Masala 1991
and Monsoon Wedding in 2001) has received critical acclaim from all over the world. While one of
the criticisms of the both the novels (Brick Lane and The Namesake) had been that they are rather
too long (in description to read), both the film versions were successful in gaining much more
popular support. Where the ‘Brick Lane’ film version tried to either diffuse or highlight inter
community tensions, The Namesake appears more laid back and open in its depiction of racial/inter
community tensions. Perhaps that is also embedded in the novel itself which concentrates on
internal human relations, identity and conflict than racism or cross cultural adaptability. In Internet
Movie Database (IMBD) user comments for The Namesake (2006), Subramaniam-Chitra writes

‘The emotion of Loss has been portrayed extremely poignantly and beautifully by Mira, the
loss of one’s parents, the loss of one’s children, and the loss of one’s partner, leaving behind nothing
but yourself and trying to find freedom and joy after the loss. This is a universal story, the universal
emotions and one that cuts across all cultures as it’s a film about what we all go through or will go
through’.

(IMDB, 2008)

In the film adaptation the focus seems to be more on Ganguly couple than their son (Gogol)
and perhaps for wider audience appeal the setting shifts from ‘Boston’ to ‘New York’.The back
cover of the film’s DVD version provides a convincing summary of this artistic and sensitive
adaptation of the novel.

‘..Follows the Ganguli family whose move from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong
balancing act to meld to a new world without forgetting the old. Though parents Ashoke and
Ahsima long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, they take great pride in their
opportunities their sacrifices have afforded their children. Paradoxically, their son Gogol is torn

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between finding his unique identity without losing his heritage. Based on the novel by Jhumpa
Lahiri’ (From the piracy DVD copy of Namesake bought in Dhaka, Bangladesh 2007)

What is perhaps important for investigation is the sexual portrayal of the two traditional
Bengali families in UK and USA. Even the pot boiler Bollywood films never showed kissing or sex
scenes so naturally as the western films as they are shown in both the Bengali diaporas films located
in London and New York. In passing we can note how ‘You Tube’ now have a huge collection of
what are termed as ‘hot Bengali or Desi kissing/sex scenes’. Many are captured by diasporic
communities when they visit south Asia or posted from their current locations of residence in the
western world.

(You Tube, 2008)

I for India

First produced in 2005 in UK, ‘I for India’ is a 71 minute documentary based on real life 8
mm film footage and audio tapes of an aspiring Indian medical graduate from Meerut who migrated
with his wife to Darlington (England) during 1965. Being emotionally too involved with the ‘Indian
sense of place’ and to capture the temporal spaces of both India and England, Dr Suri arranged
four decades of 8mm filming and spool tape recording at both ends (buying a set for each
geographic location). Somewhat similar to the aspirations of the two authors of ‘Brick Lane’ and
‘The Namesake’, the director Sandhya Suri (daughter of Dr Suri) makes a conscious and inspirational
attempt to make a documentary out of these vast audio visual, private resources of her father.
Perhaps it will come as no surprise to researchers on migration, diasporas, nostalgia, racism,
assimilation and multiculturalism that, like ‘Brick Lane’ and ‘The Namesake’, this real life
documentary would feature the determinants for Dr Suri’s forty year journey in coming to terms
with living abroad.

One would expect a professional quality documentary from a National Film School graduate
Sandhya Suri; however, in reality it is not just a run of the mill biographical documentary of the Suri
family but transcends into ‘larger than life’ portrayal of the pains of separation, fear of losing identity
and the constant struggle to cope with inevitability.

‘I for India’ is a real life story of Dr Yash Pal Suri arriving in England in the mid sixties in
pursuit of higher medical training with the newly established National Health Service (NHS) who
were recruiting young south Asian doctors to address the growing needs of post-war Britain.
Through a loosely structured ‘time gapped’ audio visual evidence, Sandhya Suri subtly portrays the
complex ‘two world’ existence of her father and his bitter sweet changing relationships with her
immediate and outside family both in Indian and the UK.

The other essential aspects of coping with both institutional and public racism, extreme
climatic condition (cold and snowy northeast England of the sixties and the seventies), sense of

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isolation, despair in the diasporas, nostalgia of homeland (India) and changing family and personal
circumstances are edited imaginatively through a measured use of archival television footages,
holiday and travel shootings and haunting old Indian film songs insertions. The film is also enriched
through overlapping commentaries by the director’s family members.

Peter Bradshaw in his opening comment for the review of this documentary suggests that

‘ The family memoir has come to be staple of modern British publishing, and Sandyha Suri’s gem of
a film shows that the genre works on screen too. It is cine-autobiography, a real life family story,
unassumingly told: funny engaging and often very moving.’

(Bradshaw, 2007)

In the Institute of Ideas (IOI) ‘Culture Wars’ website, James Cross attempts to universalise
migration and at the same time observes this documentary’s particular painful angle through a
philosophical start as

‘Everyone migrates. Everyone starts somewhere and ends somewhere else-even if they don’t
physically move anywhere. But to begin somewhere and to end up somewhere completely different,
to find yourself wedged between modes of expression, abandoned across the massive space of
continents, and then trapped in the passage of time; this is surely a more sordid experience of
migration.’

(Cross, 2007)

Towards the end of the review Cross contemplates the complexities of ‘multiculturalism’ as
portrayed by the narrative of the film.

‘I am not sure whether the film wants to make a serious point about migration (the tone of
the film in many ways quite serious and melancholic), or whether this is simply a finely-edited home
movie. Either way, if, like me, you’re slightly obsessed with thinking about what people mean when
they say ‘multicultural’, I think you will find this a really clever and very watchable picture’.

(ibid)

One of the unique features of this documentary is how such private and intimate sentiments
(almost like a video diary) have been made public with the aid of a few TV archival footages from
both the continents bringing the audience of both sides so close. Introducing a more recent DVD
version of the film in ‘The Observer’, Mark Kermode provides a more befitting title of ‘The Other
time-travelling doctor’ and makes some poignant points about both the emotional content and the
magical aspects that the film aspired through its simple technological triumph.

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‘The story of the doctor’s ultimately unrealistic dream to resettle his wife and daughters back
in India is played out in intimate understatement, resurrecting voices from the past that speak with
clarity and presence of a family union. There is laughter, there are tears, and on occasion there is
almost unbearable sadness. Honestly, it’s being right there in the room with the entire Suri family, as
if geographical and temporal distances have simply been evaporated by the timeless magic of cine-
film magnetic tape.’

(Kermonde, 2008)

Unlike ‘Brick Lane’ and ‘The Namesake’, ‘I for India’ is not based on a novel; it is evident
that the director Sandhya Suri did have sufficient research on her father’s recordings and blending
them with archival footages. The end product therefore comes as ‘poetically atmospheric’, more like
a factitious novel described by a reviewer in New York Times as

‘a compelling piece of social history that is also deeply moving domestic melodrama’

(Catsoulis, 2007)

Like the other two authors of ‘Brick Lane’ and ‘The Namesake’ (Monica Ali and Jhumpa
Lahiri), Sandhya Suri’s film is also influenced by her father’s migration and constant yearning for
‘homeland’ as she narrates prosaically in her ‘Director’s Statement’

‘Listening to my father’s audio letters, to the mike clicking on and off, us as children playing
in the background, his breath as she struggles to find the right words, or the barely concealed anger
or puzzlement in his voice, you can really picture him sitting in front of his tape recorder,
documenting his life’

(Suri, 2007)

Emerging representations of the diasporas identities, transient cultures and post-
modernity:

The production of the above three recent south Asian diasporas films has provided us with a
number of ‘contested spaces’ in terms of identity and cultures which lead to critical interrogation of
perceiving ‘migrant cultures in transition’. This also forces us to revisit the ‘home and abroad’
relationship which seems never static.

Firstly in the representations of ‘the south Asian diasporas’, these recent films seem to have
shaken off much of the ‘stereotypical’ images of the migrant societies that persist even after the turn
of the century (e.g. Bend it like Beckham, Anita and Me and Yasmin).

In ‘Bend it like Beckham’ (2002), Anita and Me (2002) and Yasmin (2004) the focus of the
films is mainly on the second generation migrant female protagonists who are caught between two
cultures (south Asian where their parents come from and England where they were born and bred).
In all these films the first generation are still portrayed (with a possible slight variation in ‘Anita and

16

Me’) as belonging to more of a ‘bland culture’, of either having difficulties in coping with the West
or going out of their way to intermingle in a comical way. In all the new films of Brick Lane (2007),
Namesake (2007) or I for India (2005) the focus is quite evenly on the first (or intermediate)
generation who appear to contest the prevailing ‘western cultural space’ in their own way, at times
romanticising/fantasising with the past or in other times negotiating in a dignified way with the host
cultures. In ‘Brick Lane’, Nazneen appears to have gained empowerment by rejecting both her
educated husband ‘Chanu’ and her short term lover ‘Karim’ in coming to terms with a completely
new world of living in the East of London. Similarly, in ‘The Namesake’, Ashima, after the sudden
death of her husband, seems to find comfort in resettling back home in Calcutta (now Kolkata) after
years of stay in Boston/New York. It is these sorts of polyphonic voices of the migrants which are
missing from the mainstream western writers or film makers. In the real life documentary of ‘I for
India’ we see a triumph in the tragedy of ‘Dr Suri’, who despite his failed attempt to resettle back in
India, remains defiant in his loyalties for his ‘homeland’ and continues to contemplate people’s lives
in India while he is compromised to live in UK for the benefit of his immediate family. In
representing the real life ironic situation of the second generation in ‘I for India’, Suri’s daughter
(happy with her English white partner) faces similar ‘cultural conflict’ when she, like her father, tries
new pastures in present time Australia.

The other distinctive portrayal of immigrant culture in these recent three films is how the
‘contested spaces of cultures’ are reflected through their parallel relationships with their places of
birth (for the first generation) or their ‘imagined cultural spaces’ (for the second generation). In
previous films (particularly up until the last Century), the symbiotic relationship of ‘diasporas
population’ with their places of origin or ‘traditional cultural’ was hardly portrayed. Even if they are
represented it is not strong enough either in words or in visuals. Whereas these three films devote
considerable ‘spaces’ to the migrants’ original birth lands and illustrate how it may have remained in
the ‘mental spaces’ of both first and second generations. The film ‘Brick Lane’ begins Nazneen’s
journey in rural Bangladesh and throughout the film ‘Bangladesh’ stays afresh in her mind through
the flashbacks triggered by her sister’s letters. In ‘The Namesake’ we are introduced to Ashima
through her arranged marriage to Ashok in Calcutta when he is already a postgraduate student at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After this the viewers get a good idea of the other
‘major culture’ in Calcutta where Ashima’s cultured family reside keeping regular contact with their
family’s development in both sides of the continent. It is the portrayal of the ‘both worlds’ which
becomes part and parcel of the immigrant’s life in the West, so apparent and understandably
complex in the film. ‘I for India’ takes us into a more ‘time space compression’ (Harvey, D 1989)
when we are constantly shuttling between Meerut (India) and Darlington (UK) to understand the
unsettled mind of ‘Dr Suri’ who himself seems to have got lost between ‘reality’ and ‘fantasy’. This
complex real/dream world is further accentuated by the second generation director/commentator of
the film (Sandhya Suri) who is lured to interrogate her father’s transient and elusive state of mind
which seemed deeply engrained with the memories of India. Also worth mentioning is the conscious
inclusion of bilingualism in the scripts (with subtitles) in these three films, not so apparent in the
older representations in films.. The use of native languages (and dialects) Bengali, Sylheti and Hindi,
make the representations much stronger.

17

Cultures that are either depicted or implied in the three films appear to be quite diverse and
transient. In ‘Brick Lane’ the ‘location of culture’ (Bhabha, H, 1997) is mainly focussed on ‘Brick
Lane’ but also on ‘Bangladesh’, popping up at regular intervals. Whereas in ‘The Namesake’, the
‘location of culture’ is evenly divided between ‘Calcutta/India’ and ‘Boston/ New York’. There is a
kind of mixed loyalty among the actors towards their allegiance and sometimes it is difficult to
pinpoint which side is more intense, although from the author’s point of view there is an inclination
towards India. ‘I for India’ is more puzzling in its ‘representation of space’ (Gupta, A and Fergusan,
J, 2008:61), ‘place making’ (Escobar, E, 2008:286-288) and ‘location and positioning of culture’
(Bhabha, op cit and Crang, M, 1998:7). Here, while the protagonist ‘Dr Suri’s soul is well embedded
in his memories of his childhood, youth and relatives in Meerut, for his wife and daughters it is
probably weighted more towards England. Through her commentaries and sympathy, the
scriptwriter and the director (Sandhya Suri) takes a slant towards India, in line with her father.

As ‘Brick Lane’ and ‘The Namesake’ are based on fictitious novels (although it is understood
that both the novelists ‘Monica Ali’ and ‘Jhumpa Lahiri’ adapted their novels on a semi-biographical
stories of their parents) and ‘I for India’ on a factual basis of Sandhya Suri’s father (Dr Suri),
collectively, they illustrate the whole spectrum of ‘constructing spaces’, from reality to fantasy. In
terms of ‘experiential/sensuous geography’ (Rodaway, P 1994) or Jean Baudrillard’s ‘abstracted
representations of the world through simulacra’ (Dear, M J and Flusty, S, p 417, 2002), mediated
representations of the south Asian diasporas and the actual subcontinent lack any fixed reality. What
may be argued is that the postmodern soundtracks of all the three films (somewhat obscure and
mystical Arabic title music for ‘Brick Lane’, Nitin Swaney’s hybrid soundtrack for ‘The Namesake’
and the 1950s Bollywood film songs in ‘I for India’) make the ‘cultural spaces’ continually changing
from ‘real’, ‘hyperreal’ to ‘imaginary’. The mediated, subtly edited, techniques of intermittent cuts
from one ‘world’ to the ‘other’ (The Namesake), overriding commentaries from letter reading (Brick
Lane and I for India) make watching these films more of a post modern experience as they manage
to collapse ‘time’ and ‘spaces’ and let viewers remake their own ‘imagined spaces’. The inclusion of
‘western’ editing techniques (i.e. flash backs and jump cuts in Brick Lane and The Namesake) and
the deliberate melodramatic inclusion of 1950s style Bollywood film for example like the parallel use
of Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyassa’ film music (Moloy, C and Shakur T, 2003: 246-253 and 2004: 231-242) begs
contestation of cultures through a negotiated hybridity of the ‘East’ and ‘West’.

The re-telling of the stories of the first generation by the second generation throws new light
on ‘shifting representations’. In these new novels and films, nostalgia created by the second
generation or by the ‘others’ (not necessarily experienced but reconstructed) implies a curious links
with both ‘colonial’ and ‘post-colonial’ (subaltern) discourses.

Interrogating ‘Brick Lane’, ‘The Namesake’ and ‘I for India’ provides considerable
opportunity to understand the emerging ‘hybrid cultures’ of both the ‘south Asian’ and ‘south Asian
diasporic’ cultural spaces with a twist of ‘post-modern experiential geographies’.

18

Bibliography

Ali, M (2003)
Brick Lane
Doubleday

Amazon (2008a) ‘Brick Lane’
Web link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/product-
description/038560484X/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=books
Date accessed: 6th July 2008

Amazon (2008b) ‘Namesake’
Web link: http://www.amazon.com/Namesake-Novel-Jhumpa-Lahiri/dp/0395927218
Date accessed: 2nd July 2008

BBC. (2008) ‘The Real Brick Lane’
Web link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/documentaries/therealbricklane.shtml
Date accessed: 2nd July 2008

Bhabha, Homi, K (1994)
The Location of Culture, Routledge

Books Google. (2008) ‘the Namesake: A Novel’
Web link: http://books.google.com/books?id=Nx-
vY7ac1OcC&dq=The+namesake:+a+novel&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
Date accessed: 1st July 2008

19

Bradshaw, P. (2007) ‘I for India’ The Guardian.
Web link: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2140004,00.html
Date accessed: 23rd June 2008.

Catsoulis, J . (2007)’ I For India’
Web link: http://www.iforindiathemovie.com/reviews.html
Date accessed: 4 July 2008

Chaudhuri, A (1991)
A Strange and Sublime Address
Heinemann

Chaudhuri, A (1993)
Afternoon Raag
Heinemann

Crang, M (1998)
Cultural Geography
Routledge

Cross, J. (2007) ‘I for India’
http://www.culturewars.org.uk/2007-08/india.htm
Date accessed: 25th June 2008.
Escobar, A (2008)
“Culture sits in Places: Reflections on Globalism and Subaltern Strategies of Localization”

20

From Political Geography 20 (2001): 139-174 in
Oakes, T, S and Price, P, L (Eds) ‘The Cultural Geography Reader (2008)
Routledge

Forster, E.M. (1989)
A passage to India, Penguin, London (first published 1924)

Kureishi, H (1999)
My Son the Fanatic
Faber & Faber

IMBD. (2008)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433416/usercomments
Date accessed: 1st July 2008

Gupta, A and Fergusan, J (2008)
“Beyond ‘Culture’: Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference” from Culture, Power, Place:
Explorations in Critical Anthropology (1997)
in Oakes, T, S and Price, P, L (Eds) ‘The Cultural Geography Reader (2008)
Routledge

Harvey, D (1989)
Condition of Postmoderntiy. Oxford, Blackwell

Kermonde, M, (2008) ‘The Other Time-travelling Doctor’ The Observer.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/video/review/0,,2267546,00.html

21

Date accessed: 22nd June 2008.

Khan-Din, Ayub (1986)
East is East, NHB, London

Lahiri, J (2003)
The Namesake
Houghton Mifflin, 1 Edition

Lea, R., and Lewis, P. (2006) ‘Local Protests Over Brick Lane Film’ The Guardian.
Web link: http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1822739,00.html

Date accessed: 23rd June 2008.

Rodaway, P (1994)
Sensuous Geographies: Body, Sense and Place
Routledge

Rushdie, S (1981)
Midnight’s Children, Cape, 1981

Greer, G. (2006) ‘Reality Bites’ The Guardian.
Web link: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1827524,00.html

Kaye, M.M (1978)
The Far Pavilions, Penguin, London

Meera, Syal (1997)
Flamingo

22

Moloy, C and Shakur, T (2003)
‘Cultural Rupture or Hybridity? Guru Dutt and Pyasa’ in
Damsteegt, T (Ed) Heroes and Heritage: The Protagonist in Indian Literature and Film’ Leiden, The
Netherlands

Moloy, C and Shakur, T (2004)
Pyaasa de Guru Dutt: Rupture Culterelle ou Hybridation’
in Annie Montaut (ed) Literature et poetiques pluriculturelles en Ansie du Sud, in Purusartha 24:
231-242, published by Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris

Movies. (2008)
Web link: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/movies/20bric.html
Date accessed: 25 June 2008

Naipaul, V.S (1961)
A House for Mr Biswas, London, Picador

Scott, P. (1966)
The Jewel in the Crown, Penguin, London

Shakur, T and D’Souza, K (2003)
Picturing South Asian Culture in English: Textual and Visual Representations
Open House Press, Liverpool
Shakur, T (2006)
Web link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5170862.stm

23

Date accessed: 9 July 2008

Suri, S, (2007) ‘I for India’
Web link: http://www.iforindiathemovie.com/statement.html
Date accessed: 3 July 2008

Time Out. (2008)
Web link: http: //www.timeout.com/film/reviews/84862/Brick_lane.html

You Tube. (2008)
Web link: http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=hot+bengali+films&search_type=&
aq=4&oq=hot+beng

Filmography

A Passage to India (1984): David Lean

Apur Sansar/The World of Apu (1959): Satyajit Ray

Anita and Me (2002): Metin Huseyin

Bend It Like Beckham (2002): Gurinder Chadha
Bhaji on the Beach (1992): Gurinder Chadha

Brick Lane (2007): Sarah Gavron

24

East is east (1999): Damien O’Donnell.
Goodness Gracious Me! BBC TV 1998-2000
Heat and Dust (1982): Ismail Merchant
I For India (2005) Director: Sandhya Suri
My Beautiful Launderette (1985) : Stephen Frears
My Son the Fanatic (1999): Udayan Prasad
The Far Pavilions (1984): Peter Duffell
The Jewel in the Crown (1984): Jim O’Brien, Christopher Morahan
The Namesake (2006): Mira Nair
The Namesake (2007) SM DVD (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Yasmin (2004): Kenneth Glenaan

25

Art Activity in Nepal as World Peace

Artists’ Profiles

All text otherwise not credited is contributed by Archana Verma

Lung-ta (also rlung-ta or klung-ta) is the prayer flag arranged in the horizontal fashion in
Tibetan Buddhist areas. The word means "wind-horse," implying the wind that will carry the prayer
around and spread it to all space. The notion of the wind carrying the prayers to the gods is as old as
the Vedas. The Vedic sacrifices evolved around the fire altar and the smoke of the fire was believed
to carry the offerings to the gods along with the wind. Even today, this is the concept behind the
Hindu worship rituals that take place around the sacred fire. Tibetan Buddhism has evolved this
concept to a ritual art form. Since sacrifice is not used in Buddhism, this concept has been modified
in Tibetan Buddhism.

India has had a very ancient technology of producing block-printed cloth. In today's Tibetan
areas, the religion that existed before Buddhism was called Bon, from which Tibetan Buddhism has
borrowed many elements. Bon had a tradition of using five-coloured plain flags in their healing
rituals. It appears that this tradition was combined with the Indian technology of producing block-
printed designs on cloth to produce the prayer-flags of Tibetan Buddhism. The other flag-style, viz,
the vertical one, is called Darchor.1 Dar signifies increasing life, fortune, health and wealth
and Chorefers to all sentient beings.

Lung-Ta Style Flags (Image Link2)

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flag
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flag

26

Darchor-Style Flags (Image Link1)

Often, these two styles are combined, in which the horizontal flag-lines are tied to the
vertical flag-pole.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flag

27

In essence, a Lung-ta prayer flag is a rectangular or circular piece of cloth (ideally silk, but cotton or
synthetic cloth may also be used), with block-print of a horse in the centre, four symbolic animal
figures in four corners and selections from the 400 hymns from the compositions about
three Bodhisattvas - Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri. These figures
are worshipped in Tibetan Buddhism as divinities. Ta signifies a swift horse, symbolising the
spreading of prayers in all pervading spaces when wind comes in contact with them. The symbolic
animals in four corners1 represent Garuda or Eagle (upper left corner), which signifies wisdom and
defeat of diseases and malevalent forces, Dragon (upper right), who symbolises overcoming of
ignorance and acquiring gentle power, snow lion (lower left) symbolising fearless joy and tiger (lower
right) symbolising confidence arising from the path of Dharma that Buddha taught. Very often, on
top the three Buddhist deities- Avalokiteshvara (compassion), Majushri (wisdom) and Vajrapani
(power) are also represented. At the bottom, joining of rival forces and thus producing universal
friendship is represented by combining the features of snow lion and Garuda together, fish and otter
together and sea-alligator and sea-snail together. The horse in the centre carries three jewels of
Buddhism - Buddha, Dharma and Sangha2. The five colours of the flags3 are – blue (space) presided
by Akshobhya overcoming ignorance, white (water) presided by Ratnasambhava overcoming pride
and miserliness, red (fire) presided by Amitabha overcoming delusion of attachment, green (air)
presided by Amoghasiddhi overcoming jealousy and yellow (earth) presided by Vairochana
overcoming anger. These flags have to be hung only in this colour-sequence.

A Lung-ta style flag with four symbolic animals (Image Link4)

1 http://viewonbuddhism.org/symbols_tibet_buddhism.htm
2 http://www.prayerflags.com/display.asp?catid=2&pid=2
3http://www.webstore.com/PRAYER-FLAGS-TEN-5-PANELS-with-WIND-HORSE-
SYMBOL,name,5897534,auction_id,auction_details
4 http://www.silkroads.com/prayerflags/windhorse.html

28

Lung-ta style flag with four corner animals, three deities at the top, friendship symbols at the bottom
and Swastika signs for eternal well-being (Image Link1)

Lung-ta style Prayer-Flag with the Corner Animals Represented Only by Inscriptions of their Names
- Kyung (Garuda), Druk (Dragon), Senge (Snow-Lion) and Tag (Tiger) (Photo - Maureen Drdak,

Inscription read by Archana Verma)

1 http://www.prayerflags.com/display.asp?catid=2&pid=2
29

Rival Forces Join to Symbolise Universal Friendship (Image Link1)

However, it should be remembered that horse-design flags are only one of their kind in the
wide array of prayer-flags evolved by Tibetan Buddhism. There can be prayer-flags designed around
many concepts and figures such as Goddess Tara with hymns dedicated to her printed around her
image and Medicine Buddha or Bhaishajyaguru flags. This Buddha is the one who teaches medical
knowledge and hence, grants longevity, good health and well-being to all sentient beings.

The ritual chants of the Tibeatn Buddhist monks take many forms, including non-
instrumental chantings to very musical singing accompanying many kinds of instruments and often
also many poses associated with worship. A very popular hymn amongst them is dedicated to
Avalokiteshvara Boddhisattva. The original hymn is in Sanskrit, but it has been rendered in many
East Asian languages and also in Tibetan. Following links lead to a Sanskrit singing and its Tibetan
rendition –
http://youtu.be/jryIS5vEesA (In Sanskrit)
http://youtu.be/F194kbyY8EI (In Tibetan)

1 http://viewonbuddhism.org/symbols_tibet_buddhism.htm
30

Tara-style Prayer-Flag (Image Link1)

Bhaishajyaguru (Medicine Buddha)-Style Prayer-Flag (Image Link2)
Sanskrit Lyrics of this Hymn
Namo Ratna Tryaye,
Namo Arya Jnana
Sagara, Vairochana,
Vyuharajaya Tathagataya,

Arahate, Samyaksam Buddhaya,

1 http://www.silkroads.com/prayerflags/tara.html
2 http://www.silkroads.com/prayerflags/medicinebuddha.html

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Namo Sarva Tathagatebhyah,
Arhatebhyah,

Samyaksam Buddhebhyah,
Namo Arya Avalokite
shvaraya Bodhisattvaya,
Maha Sattvaya,
Maha Karunikaya,

Tadyathah, Om Dhara Dhara,
Dhiri Dhiri, Dhuru Dhuru
Itiye vitiye Chale Chale,
Prachale Prachale,
Kusume Kusumavaraye,

Ili Mili, Chetam Jvalam, Apnaye Svaha...
_________________________________________________________

A Free English Translation
(Translated by Archana Verma)
"Salutations to the Three Jewels,
Salutations to the Noble Vairochana Tathagata Arhata Buddha, who looks at everyone equinamously
and who presides over the vyuha and who is an abode of the ocean of Knowledge,
Salutations to the Noble Arahata Tathagata Buddhas who look at all beings equinamously,
Salutations to the Noble Avalokiteshvara,
Who is a Great Being and is Greatly compassionate towards all sentient beings,
Hence, let's hold fast, hold fast on to the vow,

Come, let's get together here
And envelope the lotus of our hearts and consciousness

With Enlightenment
(so that we lead others towards liberation from misery)..."
(Mid-Length Hymn of Avalokiteshvara, also called Hymn of 1000-armed Avalokiteshvara)

There is a Western artists' collective, which is titled after this concept as Lung-
ta Collaborative. Maureen Drdak the painter, Andrea Clearfield the musician and Manfred Fischbeck
the choreographer are members of this collective. They have worked with Tenzing Bista, a gifted

32

Tibetan Buddhist monk who has served as the royal physician at Lho Mangthang in Nepal and who
composes poetic Buddhist prayers.

Andrea Clearfield and Maureen Drdak (Image Link1)

The following prayer written by Tenzing Bista is very significant as it was composed on 11th
of September, 2008 i.e., on the anniversary of the terrorist attack of 9/11 and it prays for the
planetary peace - thus countering the ideology of hatred and violence propagated in the name of
religion.This prayer extends itself to all people of the world, regardless of the religious beliefs they
follow - again a marked contrast from the religious sects that attempt to protect only their own
followers and hate and destroy the others.

Apart from the symbolic significance of this prayer for world-peace, it is also important for
the students of Tibetan Buddhism, as it shows the elaborate iconography of divinities utilised in
prayers and flags and also the symbolic associations of these deities with various aspects.

Prayer written by Tenzing S. Bista
(Translated by Dr. Sienna Craig of Dartmouth College and Transcribed by
Kunga Nyima Delotsang, a Friend of Dr. Craig in the Tibetan Community of

Ithaca)

Path of Aspiration: A Prayer for Planetary Peace
Amchi Tenzing Sangbo Bista

1 http://gabrielbur.info/index.php?key=Andrea+Clearfield
33

Oh, assembly of the guru and the Three Jewels [of person, words and actions], and tutelary deities
who are at the root of all accomplishments, and as expansive as the sea,

Oh, dakini sky dancers, dharma protectors, guardians of the doctrine, and the gods of wealth and
those with power and strength,

Oh, local gods and all the elemental spirits, protectors of this place, local spirits, owners of this
ground, along with the eight classes of demons and the lords of the earth who pervade this soil
May it be that peace and well being is extended and enlivened throughout this earthly world of

sentient beings!
Oh, five deities of the household and of lineage, and the assemblage of nine protector deities,
The warrior deities and those of your navel, your mother, may they help you possess power and

strength,
May those that grant longevity and merit, power and influence, and the vital energy of wind become

your ally, increasing your renown,
And, may it be that peace and well being is extended and enlivened throughout this earthly world of

sentient beings!
May the religion of the Buddha increase everywhere, in all ways and all directions
May benefactors of the Buddha's teachings flow forth from the dispeller of all obstacles
And may it be that peace and well being is extended and enlivened throughout this earthly world of

sentient beings!
This prayer of aspiration was prepared by Tenzing of Lo Monthang,1 in the 9th month on the 11th day, in the

Western year of 2008. (Sept. 11, 2008)

1 Tenzing Bista may be contacted through his brother, who is Chairperson of the Himalayan Amchi
Association at Boudha, Kathmandu in Nepal (http://www.drokpa.org/haa.html)

34

Prayer by Tenzing Bista in his Handwriting and in Sharpened Form (Text and Photo provided by -
Maureen Drdak)

Lho Mangthang in Masthang region is home to Tenzing Bista. It is a Tibetan Buddhists'
province within Nepal and is closely allied to Tibet culturally, geographically and climatically. Lho
Mangthang (at the height of 3,700 metres) is the walled capital of this about 3000 sq kms Tibetan
province in Nepal. A. H. Francke in his Antiquities of Indian Tibet, published first in 1914, described
Lho-Monsdan (Lo-Mantang on the maps) as the capital of a Tibetan Province called Blo-bo north of

35

Muktinath.1 Michael Peissel in his Mustang, the Forbidden Kingdom, published in 1967, described in
great detail the city of Lho-Mangthang, its rituals, the lives of the monks and the royals etc.2 He
updated that description in 2002 with his Tibet-the Secret Kingdom.3 The Himalayan Journal says that Lo-
Mantang translates as the "Plain of Prayer in the Land of Lo."4 Till recently, this area was closed to
foreigners. It was opened to them in 1991 and now there are guided trekking tours going to Lho
Mangthang and beyond.

Following are the map of this trek and some images from Lho Mangthang -

Trekking Map to Lho Mangthang (Image Link5)

1 A. H. Francke, Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Superintendent Government Printing, Calcutta, 1914, p. 84.
2 Michael Piessel, Mustang, the Forbidden Kingdom, Dutton (Penguin Group), New York, 1967, pp. 160-224.
3 Michael Piessel, Tibet - The Secret Kingdom, Thomas Dunne Books, New York, 2002.
4 Himalayan Journal, Vol. 56, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 64-66.
5 http://www.nepalhikingteam.com/images/maps/upper-mustang-trekking.gif

36

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Day 9: Lo Manthang

Stupas at Lho Mangthang (Photo - Simon and Jessica1)

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Day 9: Lo Manthang

Namgyal Monastery (Photo - Simon and Jessica)

1 Image link for all the Lho-Mangthang photos - http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-
entries/simonjessica/1/1292016299/tpod.html

37

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Day 9: Lo Manthang

Lho Mangthang in the Evening Light (Photo - Simon and Jessica)

THE LUNGTA COLLABORATIVE

The Living Blessings of Lo

Andrea Clearfield on Lung-Ta

Email - [email protected]
Lung-Ta (The Windhorse)

Prelude
Calling of the Dieties, Part I (Wrathful)
I. Manjusri (Wisdom)
Calling of the Dieties, Part II (Peaceful)
II. Avolokiteshvara (Compassion)
Calling of the Dieties, Part III (Tibetan Orchestra)
III. Vajrapani (Action)
Epilogue (A Prayer for World Peace by Tenzin Sangbo Bista)

38

The music for Lung-Ta (The Windhorse) is inspired by the breath-taking expanse of ancient,
windy, raw high bone and coral shades of mountain landscape in the shadow of the Himalayas - Lo
Monthang in northern Nepal, the powerful and resonant sounds of Tibetan Buddhist ritual music,
and the deeply rich and spiritual life of the people there in this remote kingdom, one of the last
remaining enclaves of pure Tibetan culture. The work is scored for nine musicians, each playing
their own instrument plus Tibetan Buddhist instruments brought back from the trek; it also uses
field recordings that I made on horseback, the chanting of the monks in both Tibetan Buddhist and
Bon Po ceremonies in Upper Mustang, and the folk music of Tashi Tsering, the royal court singer of
Lo Monthang.

The trek with painter Maureen Drdak, anthropologist Dr. Sienna Craig and her young
daughter, Aida, into the restricted area of Upper Mustang became the window into this vast sound
world. The piece takes its form from Maureen's 3 dynamic paintings, each representing one of the 3
protector deities of the Rigsum Gompo, structures found near the entrances of the villages in the
high mountains. The 3 movements are informed by: Manjusri, Avolokiteshvara and Vajrapani,
representing Wisdom, Compassion and Action, respectively. The music incorporates fragments of
the melodies that were sung to me by Tashi Tsering, and composed with elements of heterophony
(I), monophony (II) and polyphony (III). Interspersed sections of “calling” the dieties employ
ornaments, rhythms and pitched fragments from traditional Tibetan Buddhist chant and
instrumental ritual music. Lung-Ta is also influenced by the prana threads in Maureen’s paintings:
meridians that energetically run through the body to create universal connection. The musical
representation of the prana threads can be heard as a C#/Db tone that continually dances through
all of the instruments, even voices; it is ever present in Lung-ta, but is always shifting and morphing,
like the clouds. The prana threads can be heard by single instruments or as a moving wave of sound
with ornamental figures and microtonal undulations.

A Prayer for World Peace was written for us by Tenzin Sangbo Bista, senior Buddhist monk
of Lo Monthang’s Choede Monastery and founder of the Lo Kunphen (Tibetan Medicine) School.
The prayer is not sung, but rather unfolds through the trajectory of Lung-Ta, working its way from
the gathering of wisdom to the all- encompassing connection of compassion into the manifestation
of global action for positive change. At the conclusion of the work, there will be a recording of
Tenzin Bista reciting his prayer in Tibetan. It is very special to us that Tenzin has traveled from
Nepal to be with us for both the benefit event held recently for his school, and for the premiere of
“Lung-Ta”.1

1 Andrea Clearfield’s profile can be seen here - http://www.andreaclearfield.com/bio/short-bio/

39

More resources on this project (provided by Andrea Clearfield), with musical soundtracks of
the composition of Andrea Clearfield can be found on her webpage.1

THE LUNGTA COLLABORATIVE

The Living Blessings of Lo

Manfred Fischbeck on Lung-Ta

Email - [email protected]

It was an honor for me and the Group Motion Dance Company to be invited into the
creation of Lung-Ta (The Windhorse) and to provide the dimension of dance to this amazing
collaboration.
The choreography for the piece was developed in closely following the structure of the musical and
visual compositions. Although using essentially an abstract movement language, the dance took
inspiration from the imagery and the sounds of the Tibetan Buddhist music, art, and symbolism
such as the prayer flags, the windhorse, the iconography of the clouds, sword, and flower, mudras of
Tibetan Buddhist prayers, the ideas of the ‘peaceful and wrathful,’ and the deities of wisdom,
compassion, and action. Along the prana threads that pervade Andrea’s music and Maureen’s prayer
flag paintings, the creation of the dance unfolded organically with the breath of the music.
Incorporating at one point the use of Tibetan drums and at the end the movement with authentic
Nepalese scarves into the formation of an embodied prayer flag – the dance understands itself and
the entire work as a prayer for global peace.
We are grateful to Andrea and Maureen and the Network for New Music and the spirit energy of Lo
Monthang to be a part of this work.2

1 http://www.andreaclearfield.com/works/chamber/lung-ta/
2Manfred Fischbeck’s profile can be seen here - http://www.asianart.com/articles/lungta/m_fischbeck.html.
His webpage is at www.groupmotion.org.

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Maureen Drdak

Profile-Text provided by Maureen Drdak

Email: [email protected]

Maureen’s article is included in this issue, in which she discusses her paintings based on the concept of Lung-ta and on
the poetic prayer of Tenzing Bista given above.

Maureen Drdak is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia
College of Art (University of the Arts) in Philadelphia; additional studies include Temple University,
the Barnes Foundation, and research travel in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, India, Nepal
and the Himalayas. Her work concerns relate to universal paradigms of mythic archetypes, their
capacity for cultural bridging, and their relevance in contemporary space. She is the recipient of
numerous academic and private awards, most recently from H. F. Gerry Lenfest and Eugene V.
Thaw for Lung-Ta, an interdisciplinary collaborative with American composer Andrea Clearfield,
which premiered at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in March of 2009. Her work is found
in numerous public, private, and university collections within the US and abroad, including the
Berman Museum, Yad VaShem in Jerusalem, Berthe and John Ford, Lynda and Stuart Resnick, and
King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan. Solo exhibitions, museum and academic lecture
venues by invitation include, but are not limited to; Indigo Gallery (Nepal), the Patan Museum and
Kathmandu Contemporary Art Center (Nepal), the University of the Arts, the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts, Penn College of Technology/Penn State University, West Chester
University, Temple University Center for the Humanities, Massachusetts College of Art, the Philip
and Muriel Berman Museum of Art, Lehigh University, the Lawrence Gallery at Rosemont College
in Philadelphia, theIraqimemorial.org Exhibition and Symposium at the University of Nevada at Reno,
and Charles More & Associates, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Forthcoming Exhibits include the
Twelve Gates Gallery, Philadelphia, Visting Artist at Singinawa Foundation, Kanha, India, Bryn
Mawr College, Pennsylvania, and Serindia Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand.1

1 Maureen’s webpages are at www.myartspace.com, www.Mdrdak.com.
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Continuity of Nari Uttana-Pada/Aditi Uttana-Pada and
Chakhropadain

An Ethno-Archaeological Study

Sachin Tiwari

Archaeological Survey of India, Patna Circle

Email - [email protected]

[A revised version of this paper was presented at an international seminar at the University of Lucknow, organised by
ISPQS, Pune, IAS, Delhi and IHCS, Delhi on 28th-30th December 2010.]

The term Nari-Uttana-hasta-pada can be a nomenclature in view of the special posture,
identified so as both the hands and legs of nude lady are raised upward while the hip (nitamba) is
resting on the earth. But the term Aditi-Uttanapada, a female with raised legs, as defined by Stella
Kramrisch instead of the usual popular term of Lajjagauri meaning goddess having shame, which by
meaning and form does not appear apt, as the representations of Aditi-Uttanapada shows her nude
with minimum ornamentation. The main reason behind naming this deity asLajjagauri is that she is
mostly shown headless with a lotus replacing the head. However, some nude figures having head is
also described as Lajjagauri. Considering the physical features of such type of deity, the term Nari-
Uttana-hastha-pada will be more appropriate than Aditi-Uttanapada and Lajjagauri and other terms. The
present paper deals mainly with the living tradition ofCharkhopadaine which in form appears similar
to that of Aditi-Uttanapada, nowNari-Uttana-hastha-pada , but in ritualistic practice differs from the
latter.

Worship of Nari-Uttana-hastha-pada is mainly attached to fertility cult andCharkhopadaine is
regarded as a deity of protection against natural disasters which indirectly again leads to surplus
production and welfare of the humanity.

The present paper describes the definition, antiquity, iconographic evolution, distribution
and different mediums in which the Aditi-Uttanapada or Lajjagauri is found in relation to the living
tradition in a tribal society called Chera, which is similar to the former known as Charkhopadaine.

Definition and Antiquity:

The worship of ‘Mother Goddess’ in various forms was popular in ancient world; her images
are found both in iconic and anionic forms. Although the identification is uncertain in some cases,
she is often known as “Great Mother”, “Virgin”, “Goddess of earth”, “Goddess of
Fertility/Progeny,” and so on. (Suresh Vasant, 1995: 301)

The earliest depictions of such icons are found from the pre-historic times in the form of
rock paintings like Jaora in Madhya Pradesh (Wakankar, V.S., 1992: 329). Similarly, depiction of nude
female figure was noticed in the rock paintings from Australia (Figure 1). Sankalia postulates the
inception of the cult of the Earth or Mother goddess in the portrayal of faceless Venus from
Willendorf in the European Upper Palaeolithic Mesolithic complex (Sankalia, H.D., 1960: 111-

42

123) and from the headless Cycladia images from Europe. Marshall finds the source of this cult in a
Harappan sealing, wherein a nude female figure is depicted upside down with the legs stretched and
with a plant emerging from her womb (Marshall, John, 1931: 52), which shows her relation to the
fertility cult. The images of Lajjagauri found at Aihole group of monument are perhaps one of the
biggest one. (Fig. 2)

Fig. 1 (Image Link - http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/aura/web/index.html)

Fig. 2 (Photo - Sachin Tiwary)
Enough literary evidences regarding the antiquity of this cult has been traced and the description
given in these literature closely matches with the cult of Lajja gauri. Taittiriya Aranyaka, 1.28.1,
describes the goddess as headless (visirsni). According to Sayana, the epithet Visirsni of the
goddess Nairti here signifies her as do not possess head (sirorahitam). The Rigveda (VI.59.6) mentions
in this context about Dawn as “wandering headless” or “moving having left her head”. This
headless Nairti described in the Vedic literature have close resemblance with the unbaked clay
figurine of a headless Mother Goddess found at the Chalcolithic site of Inamgaon. (Agrawal, P.K.,
1987, 97-99) The lotus part above the neck, instead of a human head finds mention
in Vishnudharmottara too (3, 82, 8):

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“devyascha mastake padmamtatha karyam
nManoharam, saubhagyam tad vijanihi .”
(Sharma, I.K., 1994: 89)

Different names of this cult:

Different scholars have called this cult by various names such as Prithvi (John Marshall,
1911-12: 75), Aditi Uttanapada (Kramrisch Stella 1956: 259-70), Shameless Women (Sankalia, H.D.,
1960: 111-123) Lajjahina Gauri (Sircar, D.C.,1980: 9-20), Parvati Uttanahasta/ Uttanapada (Tiwari.,
J.N.,1985: 195-196) Sri Lakshmi or Prakriti by C.Sivaramamurti (Suresh Vasant, 1995: 301) and
Lajjagauri (Fleet, J.F.) (Sastry,T.V.G.,1993:275).

Iconography:

Ichnographically, the goddess is shown nude having a full-blown lotus-head or human head,
with heavy breasts, outstretched thighs, swelling abdomen with a bud like opening to depict the
female sexual organ (Nath, Amrendra,2004: 46). Her both legs are spread open in birth giving
position. A full blown lotus or lotus bud is in her either hand raised up in trikonabaddha mudra. In the
images with human head, she bears a pleasing countenance. There are no signs of pregnancy in these
images as pointed out by Bolan, but a careful examination reveals that there are many examples
which depict her pregnant. They are found carved in the centre of rectangular stone slabs or
terracotta plaques or moulds in metal (Kumar Krishna, 2006-07: 152). She is decked with variety of
ornaments, viz. necklace (graiveyaka), waist band (mekhala), armlets (nupura or kara), wristlets
(kankana), ear-pendants (kundala), anklets, and rarely a diadem (mukuta or jata-juta). In few later
specimens, she wears a loincloth too (Nath Amrendra, 1990: 63). Sometimes, the figure is flanked by
miniature figures of Siva-linga, Nandi, Ganesa, lion-head (simha-mukha) and devotees; a variety of
objects like shri-pada (a pair of foot prints), trisula, sankha, etc. are also depicted in some images. In
three stone images, one each from Darsi, Kundane, Uppalapadu, she is flanked by the figurine of
Brahma, Siva-linga, Nandi, Kartikeya and Nrsimha. But in Kesaragutta in Andhra Pradesh, she is
sometimes shown holding a linga on right hand above Nandi and head of a lion in the left hand just
above the devotees(I.A.R, 1978-79:63).Sometimes, a devotee often in an anjalimudra is shown as in
Valabhipur, Bhawnagar District, Gujarat (Sonawane, V.H., 1998: 29). In few stone sculptures such
as from Alampur, the figure is framed within plain rectangular rims provided with a water spout
(pranala) on one side. (Stella Kramrisch, 1956: 259-70)

Material of this cult figurine:

The icon is found in different varieties of mediums such as stone (limestone, Sandstone,
Chlorite Schist, Granite), terracotta, kaolin (Kumara Krishna, 2006-07:152), faience (Janssen Frans
H.P.M. 1993:457-472) and metal (Khan, M.N.2002:25-57). These figurines measure from two inches
to life size.

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Distribution of this icon:

REGION STATE/PLACE
Northern Mathura, Kausambi, Uttar Pradesh (Nath, Amrendra, 1990:43)
region
North-west Smast, Kashmir, Pakistan (Khan, M.N. ,2002:83-90)
South
Waynd, Kerala (Mitragotri, V.R. 1997:), Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and
East Karnataka.
Patna Museum, Bihar (P.L.Gupta (ed.), 1965:307), Agiyabir
North-east (Sunga-Kusana period),
Uttar Pradesh,Eastern most examples are from Indian Museum, Kolkata.
South-East Almost each and every shikhara of the temple from Shivasagar group of temple
West ,
carved aditi-uttanapada image.
Garh Seoni, Chattisgarh (Kumara Krishna., 2006-07:151)

Dhank, Gujarat (Bolon, Carol R. 1997) Bhinmal, Rajasthan (Sonawane, V.H.,
1998:18)

This icon is found mainly concentrated in the regions of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka.

Conceptualising the icon:

Since the icon has been widely believed and worshipped as Aditi-Uttanapada/Nari-Uttana-
hastha-pada, it is connected with the fertility cult. The idea behind this deity is to beget children as
well as vegetative fertility and safe maternity of the mother (Sonawane, V.H., 1997:535-537). The
clutching of the lotus buds in the palms, fully developed breasts, protrusion of the belly suggesting
pregnancy, outstretched legs, and the contraction of the toes show the tension and struggle of the
female in the process of giving birth to a child (Suresh Vasant, 1995:303).

Iconographic evolution (In General):

From early times to present times, this cult has evolved in different ways as stated below:
1. In her simplest form, she is shown in globular form with lotus as head and spread legs.
(Symbolic) (Fig. 3)

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Fig. 3 (Photo - Kumara Krishna)
2. She is shown lying flat on her back with outstretched legs emphasising birth-giving posture. In her
two upraised hands, she holds lotus-buds and the most important feature is that in place of the head
a full-blown lotus is shown, some time in place of the head or lotus, a stupa like object is depicted.
Rest of the characteristics are same as above. (Semi anthropomorphic) (Suresh Vasant,1995
:303)(fig. 4)

Fig. 4 (Photo - Suresh Vasant)

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3. In other examples, the goddess is flanked by a linga, Nandi, Ganesa, lion and the goddess wears
moderate ornaments, etc., suggesting her association with Saivite worship (Anthropomorphic).
(I.A.R., 1978-79:63-64) (Fig. 5)

Fig. 5 (Photo - Archaeological Survey of India)
4. Sometime, Brahma, Linga, Nandi, Kartikeya and a lion in anthropomorphic form accompany the
goddess, suggesting her affiliation with both Saiva and Vaishnava sects as seen in Ellora group of
monument, Cave No.21, (Rameshwar cave) and in Gujarat (Sonawane, V.H., 1997:535:537). (Fig. 6)

Fig. 6 (Photo - V. H. Sonawane)

Legacy of icon in light of ethno-archaeological evidences:

It is an accepted fact that such images were worshipped by barren women to procure
offspring. The peculiar birth giving posture of the goddess in which she is shown seated also
signifies the same objective. Even today, this cult is prevalent and the goddess is worshiped in
Gujarat and Maharashtra and is known asLajjagauri. The mother goddess in this nude form is
worshiped by women who desire to a mother, by applying butter and kumkum to

47

their Yonis (Sonawane, V.H., 1998:33), but in Karnataka only kumkum is being applied which shows
regional ritualistic variance within the same cult (Jamkhedkar, A.P., 2004:39). The absence of male
devotees in the depiction of these images obviously testifies that she was worshipped only by
women.

In different part of Southern India like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other states she is known
by different names such Jugulamba, Matangi, Mesko, Nagnakabandha, Renuka, and Yellammanna (Bolon,
Carol R. 1997). In Chhattisgarh region, this cult is known as Dhundhi Raksasi. This cult was not
only popular within India but also spread to the north-western parts of Indian sub-continent like
Pakistan as seen from Kashmir Smast, where during excavation one metal Nari-Uttana-pada-hastha
was found and according to Dr. Khan it is known as Acima or Acirma and this cult is still in worship
(Khan, M.N.2002:57-85). Culture could not be separated since this part of Pakistan was under the
physical status of ancient Greater India.

Charkhopadaine in Kaimur region

The cult of Aditi-Uttanapada is still living in tribal locality of Kaimur region in Bihar, which
is similarly worshipped by the tribal community and is known asCharkhopadaine with varying in
physical form and ritual practices. The meaning of the term Charkhopadaine is not clear.

Kaimur (24’540 N.lat, 83’40 E.long.) is an administrative district which is situated in south
western part of the state of Bihar in India. Kaimur district with its headquarters at Bhabhua is one
of the most colourful and archaeologically important regions of Bihar. The district has been given
the name Kaimur as the Kaimur range of hills have not only guarded its boundaries for centuries but
have also played a vital role in its cultural, socio-economic and political history through the ages. The
region in which it extends was probably known as Kairadesa after a daittya (demon) of that name
known to local tradition as its king. It is probable that the range has been named Kaimur following
the local accounts (P.C. Prasad & K. Anand. 1996).

The icon in this cult is made out of dung (cow dung or buffalo’s dung), and usually made on
the wall of the house in different sizes. They more or less match with Aditi-Uttanapada
iconographically during the early phase. But as seen from photographs, it is not noticed that they are
not shown always in this form and posture. The face is not depicted always clearly, often made only
in outline without any of its facial features; sometime they try to make only the portion below the
neck without showing head.

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Fig. 7 Fig. 8

Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Fig. 11 Fig. 12

49