the past is another country

by bw Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:36 am

Amitava Kumar looks back at the A KUMAR who left India for the US three decades ago. Where did he go?

Krishna Murari Kishan was a Patna photojournalist who died in February this year. When I read the news of his death in a private hospital in Delhi, I was suddenly reminded that when I left India to study in America I had carried in my suitcase a copy of The Illustrated Weekly with a photo-essay on Bihar by Kishanji. The magazine with the pictures instead of what someone leaving an older culture in an earlier time might have done: the earth from his native place in a jar, maybe even a plant in a small pot, or some dirt from the flowerbed under the window of the room in which the youth’s childhood had been spent.

http://indianquarterly.com/the-past-is-another-country/

by Kris Thu Apr 23, 2015 2:56 am

bw wrote:Amitava Kumar looks back at the A KUMAR who left India for the US three decades ago. Where did he go?

Krishna Murari Kishan was a Patna photojournalist who died in February this year. When I read the news of his death in a private hospital in Delhi, I was suddenly reminded that when I left India to study in America I had carried in my suitcase a copy of The Illustrated Weekly with a photo-essay on Bihar by Kishanji. The magazine with the pictures instead of what someone leaving an older culture in an earlier time might have done: the earth from his native place in a jar, maybe even a plant in a small pot, or some dirt from the flowerbed under the window of the room in which the youth’s childhood had been spent.

http://indianquarterly.com/the-past-is-another-country/

"In the beginning there hadn’t been this need, but after the initial years I wanted a touch of India"

>>>Very nicely written. Mine was a paper mache Geethopedesam which I still have, a black and white picture of my parents from their 40s, my mother's favorite kural tucked in the side of the mirror frame in my bedroom and cassette tapes with old songs from the 60s.

by FluteHolder Thu Apr 23, 2015 10:59 am

“I brought two bags from home, but I left a third behind. / Bags, passport, my shoes crossed the yellow lines, something was left behind. / Here I am, a sum of different parts. Travel agents sell ads for the parts left behind.”
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Nice Smile

I have one 100Rs bill/Bulky Gita book given by my elder bro, casio (not working now) watch by another bro, 1$bill by my (late bro-in-law), few family BW pic negatives, Key to my apartment where I used to live in Mumbai as PG and I was able to track the family last week and was able to talk to them after so many years. When I moved to Mumbai, it was one VIP suitcase and one duffle bag, to US it was 2 suitcases and now.a House full of stuff......

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:36 am

FluteHolder wrote:“I brought two bags from home, but I left a third behind. / Bags, passport, my shoes crossed the yellow lines, something was left behind. / Here I am, a sum of different parts. Travel agents sell ads for the parts left behind.”
---
Nice
I have one 100Rs bill/Bulky Gita book given by my elder bro, casio (not working now) watch by another bro, 1$bill by my (late bro-in-law), few family BW pic negatives, Key to my apartment where I used to live in Mumbai as PG and I was able to track the family last week and was able to talk to them after so many years. When I moved to Mumbai, it was one VIP suitcase and one duffle bag, to US it was 2 suitcases and now.a House full of stuff......

This list is too long for a guy who never wanted to come out of India in the first place and left mainly due to nagging, pushing, and put downs by the family.

I think it was all a conspiracy as I wanted to enter politics and the family did a number on me.

by smArtha Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:00 pm

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

This list is too long for a guy who never wanted to come out of India in the first place and left mainly due to nagging, pushing, and put downs by the family.

I think it was all a conspiracy as I wanted to enter politics and the family did a number on me.

That explains your 'know it all' opinions Twisted Evil

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