Dafur

Darfur - Hope in the midst of struggles

Darfur Civil War image courtsey: i4donline.net

Africa’s killing field, probably a dried up lake can end the blood shed.

Notorious.

Central Africa is notorious for its backwardness like poverty, illiteracy, poor law and order, and lack of good governments. All sorts of sufferings a people can go through have been lavishly bestowed upon this unfortunate group of people who happened to take birth in the middle part of the ‘dark continent’. The present conflicts arise as poverty stricken people migrate neighboring places and face atrocities on way as well as in destination, one of the worst human tragedies are staged in the dark continent which is kept covered by a government which itself is a part in the ongoing atrocities.

Poverty, war and diseases!

Conflict in Dafur image courtsey: denix.osd.mil

The central part of Africa is composed of mainly five nations like Zaire, Sudan, Chad, Niger and the Central African Republic. As neighboring countries of Sahara Desert all are water-starved and plagued by fratricidal conflicts according to UN estimates during the last three years the number of human lives lost to these conflicts along with starvation-deaths and deaths due to diseases number more than 450,000!

The helpless ‘CAR’ and its people.

Dafur Crisis image courtsey: worldnews.about.com

The Central African Republic (as its name suggests it is located at the centre of the African Continent, capital Bangui) is endowed with a weak government that has no say beyond the capital and the rebel armies belonging to various ethnic groups go on looting and killing spree. Poverty and war drive its people to migrate to nearby area (Darfur is one destination). These migrants are sitting ducks to looters as there is nothing to defend them, even if not killed by warriors most of them die due disease and starvation on the way.

‘A promised land’

Dafur Sudan Map coursey: textually.org

As Darfur is a part of Sudan; that government is unfortunately a party in the ongoing conflicts; which lavishly uses its own military in the loot and kill operations. The Sudan government is also involved in covering up the operations of the ‘genocides and ethnic cleansing’ (as described by the US government) before the outside world. The Janjaweed armies belonging to the Arab Tribes consider these black African tribes as a ‘pest’ and go on eliminate them, Sudan thinks that what Janjaweed is doing their own agenda and turns a blind eye!

Janjaweed.

Genocide in Sudan image courtsey: civil-war.net

By obstructing journalists, killing or jailing witnesses and destroying all forensic evidences the government of Sudan is covertly joining hands with the Janjaweed (a tribal army formed of camel herding Arabs). Their joint mission is this to eliminate the black Africans who happened to be there and no one to protect them as they themselves are divided in to different tribal groups and the government of Sudan is of the view as these black people are no more required to consume the resources those are already scarce and fast depleting!

What about the population!

The Darfur is 493180 square kilometer in area and scarcely populated as people flock from one area to other (most of them get killed on their way by armies or diseases) no one has any scant idea of the exact population of this area!

The rebel forces constitute of ‘Sudan Liberation Movement’, ‘Justice and Equality’ and numerous gangs which have no particular names. Janjaweed is the main force of the Arab tribes that operates with the covert support of the Sudan Government.

Any light?

All these mentioned above pictures a dark image of the whole part of the land and the question naturally arises is this that admitting all these as painful let us know is there any light at the end of the ‘Central African Tunnel’? There is the latest satellite pictures have revealed that there exists a huge under-ground lake (almost the size of lake Eerie and once fed even the Nile with water). This subterranean lake dried up thousands of years back still has enough water to feed the entire population for a lot of years to come.

Water a pacifier!

The natural question is this that “hey what can water do when people kill each other”? When water is there people return back to their native land for farming and each tribe get engaged in farming and prosperity will lead them to lead a peaceful living. The war for scarce resources like water and food will stop. The Government of Sudan has expressed its willingness to drill areas as directed by the UN team. Central African Republic (the most impoverished one) also is to get UN assistance to drill for water and it is hoped that without delay there may be farming in place of killing.

Kalashnikov or plough?

Dafur Refugee Camp image courtsey: textually.org

If the water drawing program of the UN fructifies tribes could return to their original settlements and get engaged in the job they used to be. The looters who roam on camel back with kalashnikovs may not get migrating and helpless people to be looted in the name of ethnic difference. It is hoped that prosperity will return to this part of the land which has seen enough blood shed and enough deaths due to diseases.

The Pyramids of Giza

The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

The Pyramids of Giza image courtsey: bbc.co.uk

The step pyramid and the plain pyramid.

There were universally accepted seven wonders existed in the world, the pyramids are the only member still standing there without any damages, the main reasons being they (Pyramids) are the most stable structures capable to resist the forces of nature like wind, rain and earth-quake and as they were made of granite blocks they could resist sun and rain. The forerunner of the true pyramid is the step pyramid and of the many step pyramids built most of them perished. One in full shape left is that of King Netjerykhet Djoser. As not appealing to eye of the onlooker; its construction was discontinued.

Built to last.

Pyramids have always remained as wonder and they were not in need of the approval of a committee hence the government of Egypt did not think it necessary to propose pyramids for approval. The committee yet selected them as unopposed as a world wonder in the recently held voting event for selecting the Seven Wonders of the World. There is not anything special of selecting the pyramids as wonders as they always were there to the wonders of the world while of the seven wonders pyramids alone survived the test of time while the other six perished.

Egyptian ones are ideal.

Architecturally speaking pyramids are three dimensional polyhedron structures with four sides tapering upper part and broad base. In Egypt (Pyramids are found in many other countries like China, American continent, France and Sudan etc. Pyramids found in one locality differ from those of the other. The difference is not only in the materials chose but in the design of the structure. The Pyramid of Chichen Itza Mexico belonging to the Mayan Culture is one typical example of this (it also is one of the wonders of the world).

Khufu, Khafre and the Red Pyramid.

By volume the Pyramid of Cholula in the state of Puebla, Mexico was numero uno, which is represented only by its remnants. The Pyramid of Khufu remains top in height and style of construction followed by that of Kafre and the Red Pyramid respectively occupying second and third places (The Red Pyramid -located at Dashur Necropolis- which was originally 473 feet in height has lost much in the passing time at present only 450 feet).

The Symbol of Egypt.

The Giza pyramid complex at night

In Egypt Pyramids lie scattered in the following places from North to South Giza is the richest as it is endowed with the most important ones like that of Khufu’s and Khafre’s Pyramids. In front of the Khufu’s Pyramid stands (sits) the Sphynx the legendary lion with human head (its head is assumed to be that of Pharaos). The Pyramid of Khufu with the Sphynx in front has gained the symbol of Egypt and it remains to be the main attraction of all sights in Egypt.

Mausoleums.

Giza, Abu Sir, Saqquara, Dahsur, Lisht, Meidum, Howaira, El Lahun are all places where pyramids were present (much of the in the form of utter ruins and a source for collecting stone for local population). These structures were monuments built for the peaceful living of dead souls by the ruling cults belonged to the Solar and Stellar kingdoms who ruled Egypt. Time of construction is not known but assumed to be between 26^th century BC and the fag end of first century BC. Considering the size of these elaborate structures built it has been estimated that about 400 years would have taken for the making of the massive ones.

Mummy.

As per the customs of this cultures the cremation of the dead were done in very unusual manner. First the internal organs of the dead-bodies were removed and cavities stuffed with certain preservatives of those times, body embalmed with linen and coated with perfumes and other materials believed to have magical powers. Internal organs cut off are kept in earthen jars and also preserved. Brain from the skull removed and replaced with resin and saw dust mixture. These embalmed mummies are kept in pyramids to see that the soul at the time of rebirth should not wander for a body. It is a strange phenomenon that these mummies packed thousands of years back still remain intact.

Intriguing factor.

If these pyramids are monuments for the dead royal family members where these royal families lived (their palaces must be far grander than their dead member’s cove) but there is not even a trace of those palaces left. All attempts of archaeologists to trace the remnants of the palaces were futile and assumptions are available in this regard. How come that when tombs of the dead remain intact the palaces where people lived vanished in the thin air!

How many are there?

Map of Giza pyramid complex.

It seems strange that the accurate number of pyramids existing in Egypt is still not confirmed, Karl Richard Lepsius an expert who conducted a survey recorded 67 numbers but that was years back and many more have been later found, now it is estimated that they number between 80 and 111, most of them located in remote corners and getting looted mercilessly for the mere stones of which they are formed of.

How was such massive structures built at that time?

There is no scarcity for intrigue as far as these pyramids are concerned! The Khufu’s Pyramid was made of 230,000 blocks of granites some of the blocks weigh about 9 tons how these gigantic blocks of stones were lifted and placed in such heights? No one could give a satisfactory answer, some argue that huge pile of sand hill made and these block of stones were pushed and rolled through over the sand hill ramp. If such a sand hill ramp has to be made it should at least be miles in diameter and seems almost impossible to conceive. Some people are of the view that wooden frames were used to lift the stones the fact is no one knows actually how they did it!

Pyramids and the modern times.

Pyramids have been subjected to robbery even from the ancient times most of the culprits being the very laborers who built it. The jewels and other costly items enclosed along with the coffin was the main reason for that. Those who live nearby take away the stones for their personal use thereby depleting most of the pyramids to untraceable levels! The latest problem is the tourists who flock to it draw and write on it as well as do many things that tarnish the sanctity of the structures.

The Bosnian Pyramid.

A very interesting story of yet another pyramid is doing round in Bosnia Herzegovina near Yugoslavia. There a hill (pyramid) of about 2120 feet high with sharp four corners each of 45 degrees has been claimed as a pyramid by one Semir Osmanagic (a young Bosnian American businessman). This ‘structure’ has many things like underground pass ways (2.50 miles length)with carved stone lining and blocks of stone shaped like those of pyramids. With the local coal miners he made some excavations and many valuable discoveries have been made. Aly Abd Alla Barakat an expert from Egypt has certified that there is something for serious research on this. If found to be genuine it would be the tallest pyramid on earth!

Modern rivals no match.

Lithographic print from the 1840s depicting the Great Pyramid and neighbouring Khafre's Pyramid.

Pyramids remained as the largest manmade structures for millennia and only in 1330 AD their position for first time got challenged by Lincoln’s Cathedral which was built as the tallest building of that time occupying a ground area of 13 acres. At present building a massive structure is not such a challenge in the age of latest building technology. Even a structure built hundred times grander than pyramid today using modern technology cannot claim to match the original work. Even discovering or devising the technique the ancient people adopted for building them at that time still remains unknown.

Stories of Satyajit Ray

Wide dimension of Stories of Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray image courtsey: hindu.com

According to intellectual critics of modern literature, Satyajit Ray had made memorable explorations into the twilight territories of the peculiar and the supernatural. Some of his extraordinary tales can send shivers up the spine, ensure everyone to keep the lights on when anyone goes to bed at night, and occasionally allow someone the luxury of nervous laughter.


In the story titled ‘Bhuto’, a ventriloquist’s dummy slowly but surely turns malign and more human than its master (1); in ‘The Pterodactyl’s Egg’(2) we meet a man who claims to have devised a way to travel, economy-class, into the fourth dimension; in ‘Anath Babu’s terror’ a ghost-hunter finds himself stalked by his terrifying quarry; and in ‘Shibu and the Monster’, a schoolboy has to figure out whether his mathematics teacher is really a demon or not (3).


In the Story “Ghurghutiar Ghatana” there was a person residing at Ghurghutia, a moffusil town in West Bengal who had a wide collection of Novels and Books which were expensive and not easily available in the market. He maintained a locker which had a German Lock which could be opened only by combination. These types of locks were used during the time of Second World War where only the owner can know the exact combination of numbers and open the lock. The Central Character of the story made his parrot memorise the combination of the lock through a small poetic verse which in Bengali is termed “ Heyali”. The Parrot used to say “Trinayan O Trinayan Ektu Jiro”, which in Bengali meant , the person with three eyes, please rest for sometime. His son kidnapped the father but could not understand the implication of the heyali. Feluda , the Private Investigator was invited from Kolkata to find out what the parrot meant through those lines. The deal was that if Feluda succeeds in doing so the expensive novels will be given to him as reward. Feluda, recollected the period when India was under the colonial rule and The British Government ruled the country from the Capital Calcutta. At that time the British Generals maintained a number of Hindustani sepoys who used to speak in Hindi. When the British people failed to order them to close the door, they used to say “there is a brown crow” meaning “ darwaza bandh karo”. Feluda picked up that message and solved the puzzle about the verse of the parrot. Feluda said “ Trinayan O Trinayan Ektu jiro” means “three nine zero three nine eight two zero”. That was exactly the number with which the lock could be opened .There are other aspects of the story which was solved by Prodosh Mitra, but the thrill of suspense and inquisitiveness of the readers was kept intact while presentation of the story.


For several decades now, Satyajit Ray’s tales about unusual happenings and bizarre characters rooted in familiar surroundings have both regaled and terrified his readers, young and old alike. They include ‘The Hungry Septopus’ (4), a carnivorous plant with a monstrous appetite, ‘Barin Bhowmick’, a kleptomaniac who is taken back several years by a chance encounter on a train, ‘Patol Babu’, an amateur actor for whom a walk-on part in a movie turns into the ultimate challenge, ‘Bipin Chowdhury’, who seems to be suffering from a most disagreeable form of amnesia, ‘Bonku Babu’, a mofussil schoolteacher who is visited one night by a friendly and somewhat awkward alien,‘Ashamanja Babu’s Dog’, who bursts out laughing one morning ‘Anath Babu’, a ghost hunter who finds himself being stalked by his terrifying quarry and many, many more unforgettable characters.


Following the huge success of his telefilms, Satyajit Ray Presents 1 and 2, Feluda-30 and Dr. Munshir Diary based on a bunch of Satyajit Ray’s widely-read short stories, Sandip Ray has made a tele-film Satyajiter Gappo-2 which was telecast on DD-1 and 7 (National channel) as a tribute to the maestro’s 80th birth anniversary. The interesting feature of that experiment lied in its freshness and novelty as it mostly concentrated on bizarre contours of everyday life, human values found in its natural splendour and conflicts and complex situations.


In the Film “ Joy-Baba Felunath”, 1978, Satyajit Ray created a case where an expensive Idol of Ganesha ( The Elephant god of the Hindus) is stolen from the House of Mr. Ghoshal in Benaras (5). The grandson of Mr. Ghoshal was told to tell everyone that the Idol is with the king of Africa. Actually there was a Durga Murti being made in the same house and Devi Durga’s Bahon which was a Lion , ( The King of Africa) , where the idol was kept hidden with gum. Bikash , an orphan in that house who was brought up in the Ghoshal Family stole it and gave it to Maganlal MeghRaj , ( a rich marwari businessman) having house in Gyanbapi in Benaras. He was supposed to smuggle the idol through a Sadhubaba ( Machlibaba) at the shores of the Ganges in Benaras. Feluda intervened and arrested Maganlal Meghraj and solved the mystery. The performance of Utpal Dutta, a brilliant figure of Bengali stage and Indian films was extra ordinary. The location of Benaras, the bhajans that were picturised in the film and the synchronization of the sequences was brilliant(6). It is a pity, that Ray did not have the time to make films on most of his literature in the form of short stories, Detective stories, Suspense Thrillers and Stories of Diverse categories. The literature of Ray should be revisited to understand the diversity of the range of topics, science base, technicality, educative subject matters, human values that Ray used to handle in the span of 35 years.

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(1)

Ventriloquism means the art of making one’s dummy talk when his master is the actual talker. There are certain letters the pronounciation of which does not require lip movement. For example if a Ventriquist says “ Mohunbagan” he will pronounce it ( nononbagan) because the letter n does not require lip movement.

(2)

Ptrodactyle is a prehistoric bord appearing duing the time when Human Beings did not appear in the earth. I moving specimen is evident in the Science City at Kolkata.

(3)

Satyajit Ray was born on 2 May 1921 in Calcutta. After graduating from Presidency College, Calcutta, he studied art at Rabindranath Tagore's University “Biswabharati” in Santiniketan. He won numerous awards for his films. He was honored with the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement by the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences and bestowed with India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna.

(4)

Septopus is an organism similar to Octopus. Octopus has eight tentacles, Septopus has seven. In the relevant story the author’s dog was eaten up by the Septopus and that had made the owner ( A Scientist fascinated with plants and orchids) kill the Septopus with his rifle because it had become carnivorous.

(5)

Joybaba Felunath released in 1977 won the Best Feature Film Award, Hongkong Film Festival, 1979.

(6)

My Father, the then Chdief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court ( Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, Kolkata) when made a submission in the Sandip Ray case on Manuscripts of Ray, mentioned that Ray’s property is National Property and should be only kept in Archive maintained in Nandan for future generations to develop their knowledge base on the fields Ray had worked on. The ACMM Mridul Ray said Sandip Ray should maintain the rich legacy of his father by creating the same standard of excellence in the creative arts which he is handling now. It is reported in The Statesman, The Telergraph and other notable newspapers in 1994.

Article By: Souvik Chatterji

Assistant Director

CUTS International,
Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation
D-217, Bhaskar Marg,
Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India
Ph: 91.141.2282821 (Board)
http://www.cuts-ccier.org

Sampooran Singh Gulzar

Music in Films of Gulzar

Sampooran Singh Gulzar image courtsey: bollywoodvillage.com

The 1970s is characterised as a period of change in Indian film music. Although popular music continued to be created by the innovative compositions of Laxmikant Pyarellal, Kalyanji Anandji, R.D. Burman, yet the classical flavour of Hindustani music started losing predominance during that time. There were few reasons for the change.

Firstly the neo-realistic film movement by Satyajit Ray (1), Ritwik Ghatak (2), Tapan Sinha (3), Rajen Tarapdar (4), had inspired filmmakers like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nahalani to make realistic films in the 70s. Shyam Benegal started his journey with the film Ankur, 1974, where he gave the biggest break to Shabana Azmi, one of the most powerful actress of Indian cinema. Govind Nahalani made Akrosh, where he brought out one of the most daunting performance of Om Puri in a mute role. These films depicted the lives of the rural Indian folk with powerful story telling and theme music. At the same time Directors like Basu Chatterji made Chitchor, 1974, Hrishikesh Mukherjee made Milli, 1975, Golmaal, 1979, where the stories were picturised on the lives of middle class Indians. In the same era, corruption became rampant in the Governmental and non-governmental sector, thereby invoking the Directors to make anti-establishment films. Ramesh Sippy came up with Sholay, 1975, Prakash Mehra made Zanjeer, 1973, Yash chopra made Deewar, 1975 where Amitabh Bacchan played the roles of the angry young man who had raised his voice against the anti corruptive practices throughout the country.

Music took a turn in the 1970s due to a number of reasons. A number of musical giants died in that period. Jaikishan died in 1971, Roshan died in 1969, SD Burman died in 1975.In that era arrived Gulzar with a treasure of offbeat films which were backed by classic literature and soft meaningful music. Gulzar had the background of composing quality lyrics for Bimal Ray at a time when he had not started his career in film direction (5).

His song in the film “Mausam”, 1975, titled “Dil Dhoondhta Hai, phir wohi, phursat ke raat din”, composed by Madanmohan, brought the music lovers back to the cinema hall who got frustrated with the loud music that used to be composed in the commercial films at that time. The song was sung by Bhupinder Singh who was predominently eminent as a ghazal singer. The film was picturised in Darjeeling and Sanjeev Kumar recollected his past experience after returning from abroad. In the film “Gharonda”, 1977, Gulzar brought back the melody of the violin with the song “Ek Akela is shahar me, raatme aur dopeher me, abodana dhoondhta hai, ashiana dhoondhta hai”. The composer Jaidev, the winner of a number of national awards was a loner in his life, the song almost told his story through Amol Palekar with a tragic note. Bhupinder Singh performed the song with his intoxicating appeal. In the same film Jaidev used urbanised folk song in “do diwane shahar me” and “tumhe ho naho mujhko to itna yakeen hai” where Runa Laila accompanied Bhupinder Singh. The lyrics were written from the core of the heart by Gulzar (6).

In the Film “ Kinara”,1977, Gulzar was successful to extract the best possible music from RD Burman. In the song “ Naam Gum Jayega, Chehera Yeh Badal Jayega, meri awaz hi pehchan hai, gar yaad rahe” he complimented the poetic excellence of urdu poets like Sahir Ludhianvi, Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi, Shailendra, Shakeel Badayani and others. Lata Mangeshkar and Bhupinder Singh were at their best. In the song “ Ek hi Khwab kaibaar dekha hai maine”, sometimes the music stopped, there were dialogues and Bhupinder Singh’s voice almost brought life into the role of Dharmender who was killed in an accident by the car of Jeetender in that film. Lastly RD Burman used the Bengali classical song of SD Burman ( Madhu brindabone) to create “Mithe Bol bole” sung by Bhupinder Singh.

In the film “Dooriya”, 1980, the song “ Zindagi, zindagi, mere ghar ana, ana zindagi” composed by Jaidev and picturised on Uttamkumar and Sharmila Tagore , the height of the location of the song and height of the composition matched each other. Both of them had differences in opinion which led to separation with their children and were united at the end of the film.

In the other films like Parichay (7),1972, Kitaab (8), 1978, Aandhi (9), 1975, the songs played a significant role in bringing out the mental complexities of the characters. Notable songs include “Biti na bitayi rehna”, “Is morse jate hai”. Later on he contributed with a flavour of Rajasthani Folk songs in the film, Lekin, 1989. Gulzar’s creations are even noteworthy in films directed by other noted filmmakers , an example being “Masoom”,1983, the song “huzur is kadar bhi na itrake chaliye” and “ tujhse naaraz nahin zindagi hairan hoon mai” showing the feelings of the poet. It was directed by Shekhar Kapoor and Shabana Azmi and Nasiruddin Shah had performed to their potentials. Inpiration should be taken from the works of Gulzar to create space in the films these days for creation of soft, thoughtful, meaningful music

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(1)

Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy( Pather Panchali in 1955, Aparajito in 1956 and Apur Sangsar in 1959, based on story of Bhibhutibhushan Bandopadhaya) talked about the journey of Apu from the village in India to the crude reality of urbanised life of Kolkata. His Film Jalsaghar( 1958) was based on Feudal system existing in Bengal where Chabi Biswas depicted the Feudal Lord in his majestic style.

(2)

Ghatak’s film “ Meghe Dhaka Tara”, 1960, talked about the pains taken by victims of partition of Bengal during independence.

(3)

Tapan Sinha’s “Louhakapat”,1959 talked about the experiences of a jailor in respect of the lives of different prisoners in his jail. His film “Jatugriha”,1964, starring Uttamkumar talked about the complex life of a couple having no children in Kolkata.

(4)

Rajen Tarpadar’s film “Ganga” ,1960, depicted the lives of fishing community of Bengal who sacrificed their lives in boats and travelled through Ganges to maintain their livelihood.

(5)

Bimal Ray , the winner of a number of filmfare awards , made classic films like “ Devdas”,1955, written by Sarat Chandra Chatterji, “Madhumati” ,1958 and other notable films.

(6)

My father Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, the then chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court ( Chief Metropolitan magistrate’s court), Kolkata interviewed Sabitri Chatterji and Dilip Ray eminent actors of Bengali films, who said it was so difficult to make Hindi version of Bengali film “ Panditmoshai” written by Sarat Chandra Chatterji , and yet Gulzar had maintained the Bengali flavour while making Khushbu, 1975.

(7)

Parichay was the Hindi version of the Bengali film “ Jayjayanti”,1970, where Uttamkumar played the lead role and Manobendra Mukherjee got the Indira Gandhi Award for best Music Direction. It had similarity with the Hollywood film “Sound of Music”

(8)

Uttamkumar played a significant role to bring up his brother in-law Master Raju in the film “Kitaab”.

(9)

Suchitra Sen played the role of Political leader in the film Aandhi almost personifying Indira Gandhi, the Indian PM in 1975.

Article By: Souvik Chatterji

Assistant Director
CUTS International,
Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation
D-217, Bhaskar Marg,
Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India
Ph: 91.141.2282821 (Board)
http://www.cuts-ccier.org

The Essenes = Part II

Historical Facts on Essene Culture

Essene image courtsey: miqel.com

Most of the available sources contain very little information of a historical nature.The Qumran documents are full of historical allusions, but they are notoriously ambiguous. Moreover, the history of the Qumran community may not accurately reflect the history of Essenism as a whole. By using a combination of sources, however, scholars have developed the following tentative outline of Essene history. The Essenes seem to have arisen after the Maccabean revolt (167-160 B.C.). Sometime between 152 and 110 B.C. at least some of the Essenes, perhaps only the leaders, retreated to Qumran, on the shores of the Dead Sea. There they stayed until the Parthian invasion of 40 B.C. or the earthquake of 31 B.C. forced them to leave. At that time they settled in the regions around Jerusalem. Soon after Herod the Great's death (4 B.C.) at least some of the Essenes returned to Qumran. Some seventy years later Essenes were involved in the revolt against the Romans. The survival and persistence of the Essenes as a separate group after A.D. 70 is still debated.

Many scholars have found traces of Essenism within such later sects as the Ebionites, the Mandaeans, and the Karaites. Also still undecided is the importance and influence of Essenism within pre-A.D. 70 Judaism and early Christianity. It has often been dismissed as a peripheral Jewish sect or hailed as the very seedbed of the Christian faith. Both of these positions are too extreme. It is more likely that the Essenes were one expression of a widespread pietistic reaction to the pragmatic and tepid spirit of the official Judaism. From the ranks of such a reaction the early church would have drawn heavily. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1945, yet it took 50 years for the information to leak out about these extraordinary people. What was so shocking to the scholars who examined the ancient documents was that there was a community of people practicing Christianity, or something very close to it, for at least 200 years before the time of Christ. Both the practice of baptism and of the sharing of the wine are recorded as part of their practices long before Jesus and John the Baptist popularized them.

Location of Qumran - Qumran Map image courtsey: sundayschoolcourses.com

As you leave Jerusalem and go to the south and to the east, toward the Dead Sea, the terrain changes rapidly and starkly. You move off gradually from [the] ... rolling hillside, through the ravines, and it becomes stark and desolate. It's dry. It's arid. It's rocky, and it's rough. And all of a sudden, within a span of only about thirteen miles, the entire terrain drops out in front of you as you go from roughly 3400 feet above sea level at Jerusalem, to nearly 1400 feet below sea level at the surface of the Dead Sea. It is in that rugged cliff face, on the banks of the Dead Sea, in this arid, desolate climate, that the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered at the site known as Khirbet Qumran. The Scrolls were discovered, according to the story that, now, many people know, of a shepherd boy wandering along with his flocks and, as boys tend to do, throwing rocks in a cave. So the story goes that he heard a crack in one, went in to investigate and found a ceramic pot with what appeared to be pages inside. Those were then taken out and eventually found their way onto the market, and were only later rediscovered and deciphered as the Dead Sea Scrolls.


Subsequent to that first discovery, eleven different caves have been found at Qumran. And new discoveries are expected even now. Among the caves were found, then, thousand of fragments of manuscripts and quite a number of whole, or mostly complete, manuscripts in scrolls stored in these jars. Among the cache of scrolls that we now call the Dead Sea Scrolls, are three distinct types of material. First, we have a collection of copies of the actual books of the Hebrew scriptures.These people were copyists. They were preserving the texts of the Bible itself. Secondly, there were commentaries on these biblical texts. But these commentaries also show their own interpretation of what would happen. This is where we begin to get some of the insights into the way the Essenes at Qumran believed, because of the way they interpret the prophecies of Isaiah, or the prophesies of Habakkuk as well as the way they read the Torah, itself. So among the scrolls, then, we have a complete set of almost all the biblical books, and commentaries on many of them. "The Isaiah Scroll" is one of the most famous of the biblical manuscripts. And the commentaries on Isaiah is also very important for our understanding of Jewish interpretation of Scripture in this period.

Dead Sea Scrolls image courtsey: maxwellinstitute.byu.edu

The third major type of material found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, though, in some ways is the most interesting insight into the life of the community that lived there, because this material includes their own sectarian writings, that is, their rules of life ... their prayer book. Included then, is the book of the rule of the community or sometimes called ‘ The Manual of Discipline’ which talks about how one goes about getting into the community. The rules for someone who wants to be pure and a part of the elect community. We also have something called ‘ The War Scroll”and the War Scroll seems to be their own battle plan for the war that will occur at the end of the present evil age. And so this is something that really is real in their mind ... that this coming end of the age will be a cataclysmic event in their view. Also was found something called "The Copper Scroll". Quite literally, with the letters incised, in Hebrew, into soft, burnished copper. And the contents of the Copper Scroll are still a source of great interest among many people, because people think it may be a treasure map of their own holdings.


The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception is a book that details the explosive contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls and how the Church conspired to suppress them.Another startling fact was that the type of society that the Essenes had practiced for 200 years was very similiar to early Christianity recorded in the book of Acts. This important scriptural document shows that the early christian sect lived in communities and encouraged its members to hold all of its possesions in common, just like the Essenes did for the previous two
centuries!


Another amazing discovery was made in 1923. Edmond Bordeaux Szekely was able to discover Essene documents in the secret archives of the Vatican. In his book The Discovery of the Essene Gospel of Peace, he tells the story of how two chess players helped him meet the renowned Monseigneur Angelo Mercati, Prefect of the Vatican Archives. He told the Prefect of his desire to learn all he could of the Saint called Francis. He was allowed to research the vast 25 miles of bookshelves containing scrolls, parchments, paper manuscripts and codices. Within the labyrinth he found an aramaic translation of The Essene Gospel of Peace as well as the The Essene Book of Revelation. His research led him to seek out the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino. He was allowed, because of a letter of Monseigneur had written granting access to the large vitrines in the Scriptorium. There he found the original Hebrew codices of The Essene Gospel of Peace, the source for the Aramaic version found at the secret Vatican Archives.


The Essenes were a third religious sect during the time of Christ that lived away from the towns. Instead they lived in simple communities. The Essenes practiced the seventh day sabbath, believed in reincarnation, non-violence to all living creatures and the sharing of all material possesions. They were uninvolved in the politics of the Sadducees and Pharisees and shunned publicity. Because of the discovery of dead sea scroll material, this ancient sect and their teachings are back alive. The dead sea scrolls were hidden by this ancient people long ago in the caves of Qumram. Josephus writing around 80 A.D. said that the Essenes were Jews by birth but seemed to have a greater affection for one another than they did for the Pharisees and Sadducees. Their piety toward God was extraordinary. They wore hand woven garments. They used no profanity. They were ministers of peace and they spent a great deal of time studying the writings of the ancients.

Related Reading

• The Essenes

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China

“You are not a real man; if you haven’t climbed the Great Wall” Mao Zedong.

Numerous walls.

The story of ‘The Great Walls’ of China is a two thousand year old saga spanning from 5^th century BC to 16^th century. In this long period of history that exceeded two whole millennia numerous walls were built maintained and rebuilt making China a country of the wall. Qin Shi Huang the 5^th century emperor had built the largest structure on earth –a wall far longer and farther north than the present one, but as it was built of mud it perished in the centuries that has passed yet keep its position in history intact.

A technological break-through.

The present structure which was built in bricks and stones by the Ming Dynasty in the 16^th century is 6,400 kilometers long with intermittent towers and barracks was the only one that could endure the test of time as it was built on bricks and stones (the former ones were made of rammed earth and mud). The role played by this giant wall in defending China from enemies of tribal origin like Huns, Mongols, Turks and numerous tribes which resided around the empire was enormous.

From Shanghai Pass to Lop Nor.

Great Wall of China image courtsey: fantom-xp.com

The great barrier starts from Shanghai Pass (it is the national culture site at the eastern end of the wall) in the East and Lop Nor (Lop Nor is the name of a group of seasonal salt lakes and marshes between two deserts, these are the vestiges of the dried up Tarim Lake in to which formed of the water from Tarim River) in the west on the way it traverses deserts, swamps, mountains and all other natural obstructions.

Defense is the best form of offence!

The idea of this great wall arose when Ming Emperor was defeated by the Mongols in the war of Tumu in 1449. By that time construction methods improved and instead of rammed earth used by previous emperors Ming used bricks and stone. Enemies of all sorts were kept at bay and Ming was able to rule his land in peace for a considerable period of time! The size of the wall varies from region to region, on an average it is 8 meters high, thickness at the base is which tapers at the top to about 5 meters. The top is provided with shelters to guards and defensive gaps.

Could not break; but got in!

Then came the Manchu tribes under the leader Yuan Changhuan, even the great wall was not enough to resist this smart king who bribed the border general (Wu Sangui) of the Ming Dynasty and secured entrance through the main gate itself. The invader became the king and he established the ‘Qing Dynasty’. The Qing emperors were smarter and they did not think that a wall only as a hindrance to their expansionist policies (by the time they annexed Mongolia to China) and they neglected it.

Wonder of the world.

This great structure has been granted the World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1987 and it remains as a hot destination for tourists’ world wide (since opening up of the economy China has started to emerge as a tourist destination) and this great wall remains as one of the most photographed structures in the world. In the recently announced list of the ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ the Great Wall of China secured its position by securing a hundred million votes.

Locations of interest.

Inside of the Great Wall of China

In remote areas the wall is not adequately preserved and villagers take away the stones for building houses but there are many parts of the wall with much significance; like The North Pass, Jinshanling and Shanhaiguan etc. The North Pass known as the Badaling is well preserved and it was doing important location of defending the capital. In south east part of the Jinshanling area there is a remarkable point (mutianyu great wall) which climbs over a mountain at about 980 Meters above sea-level. Shanhaiguan portion of the wall is known as museum as there are ancient temples like Jiang-Nu built by the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD).

Visibility imbroglio!

Great Wall of China Map image courtsey: bygones.ebaypix.net

It has been claimed that The Great Wall of China can be seen with naked eye from the space and even from the moon but none other than Neil Armstrong (one of the two men who stepped on the moon) has stated that he could not see anything made by man including the ‘Great Wall’ standing there on the moon. Visibility from space is also a disputed case, there are people who have seen it and there are space-guys who could not see it. Every one agrees that the great wall was less visible than many other structures as it posses the color of the back-ground and not broad enough to be visible from distance.

Lenoy Chiao a space guy actually took a photograph while in International Space Station to claim it to be of the great wall, but was not sure whether it is of the great canal near Beijing!

The pride of China.

China has many number one positions to be proud of; like the nation with largest population (1.3 billion and still counting) Chinese being spoken by largest number of people, the largest growing economy (soon to be the #2 in GDP), largest producer of goods (known as the factory of the world) and along with all these credits there stands the Great Wall as the number one among all credits due to China.

Can be seen from earth itself!

There is no reason to regret even if the structure cannot be seen from moon. Can it can be seen from moon or space is not the question whether it is the largest human made structure is the issue and there is no dispute regarding that. This wall has one more advantage it can be seen standing from earth itself and need not bother to go to the moon just to see the Great Wall!

A legendary curse!

As a massive structure spanning thousands of kilometers through the rural and urban areas of a vast country; the wall has gained in the folklores and mythologies of the country. One of the most interesting and popular one about Meng Jiagnu is as follows. Meng and her husband lived in a nearby village and when the construction of the wall began her husband went to work for it against her wish as she had some feeling some impending danger. As she feared her husband died as a stone fell upon him. Meng was in deep grief and she cursed the wall and all who were behind it. As she just cursed a portion of the nearby wall collapsed. This story is quoted for the power of a faithful wife’s curse.

It all started from a single brick.

“A thousand mile journey starts from a single step”. Mao Zedong, former chairman of the Peoples’ Republic of China. Construction of a wall -that is largest manmade structure in the world- begins by placing a single brick.

Mohammed Rafi

Mohammed Rafi a Versatile Maestro

Mohammad Rafi

Music had played a very significant role in translating Indian thoughts throughout thousands of years. Right from the time of maharajas and nawabs it used to be presented in their courtrooms either by ustads or by the ruler himself. There was music inherently existing at every place, every part of society, every geographical location irrespective of being sung by sants or bairagis or fakirs or majhimollas. Indian cinema in the last century had based its feet on the strong story base of such characters. Now one of the main reason of reaching the stories to millions of people in our country and abroad was the everlasting music produced during 1940s, 50s, 60s.Mohammad rafi is a name which has galvanized the musical history of the golden era of Indian cinema.


Now being very popular icon of the 50s, 60s and the 70s a lot had been said about the man with the golden voice in all the leading electronic media including, newspaper, journals, television and radio. What has not being said is the everlasting treasure of rich lyrics, compositions, tunes, orchestrations that had been left by the great legend for millions of his lovers to cherish for decades and decades.


1950s and 60s can be described as an era of classical prose, poetry, shayeris. Although the subject matter of Indian cinema ranged from Historical classics like “ Tajmahal”, “ Mughal-I –Azam” to classic literature like”Devdas”(written by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee) “ Kabuliwala” (written by Rabindranath Tagore) to Suspense Thrillers like “ Woh kaun thi” “ Mera saya”. The list can go on. But what were common to all those films were the pains, devotion and imagination with which lyricists and music composers composed the songs. And of course the expression, andaz, style and perfection Mohammad Rafi had presented which is a rich asset for future generations.


If the compositions of the legendary music directors are analysed it can be said that each of them had their own foundation “ in musical terms we call it gharana”.It was a rich combination of ghazals, qawallis, Hindustani classical,mujras, thumris, kajris, bhajans, folksongs( like bhatiyali, bayul) , light songs, rock and roll, western..The composers included Shanker Jaikishan, Naushad, Roshan, Madanmohan, SD Burman, Gulam Mohammad, Wasant Desai, Khemchand Prakash, Salil Chowdhury, OP Nayyar, C.Ramchandran, Anil Biswas, Khayyam, Jaidev,Iqbal Qureshi, Ravi, Dattaram,S.N. Tripathi and others. Typically in those days musical sequences used to be created on the basis of the situation the story required, and both the lyricist and the composer used to create music which suited such sequence. Mohammad Rafi had the record of transforming the creation into history.


If we look at the film “ Tajmahal” ,released in 1963, after the demise of mumtaz mahal , Shahjahan was associated with the lyrics” hum ate rahen hai, hum ate rahenge, muhabbat ki rasme nibhate rahenge, jan-e-wafa tum do sada fir kya thikana humko ana parega.” The lyrics was written by Sahir Ludhianvi and music composed by Roshan in Rag- Pahari..Rafi had transformed his passion with the badshahi andaz of Shahjahan that existed at that time.The song had not lost its immortal value even today.


Similarly in the film “ Bahubegum” , released in 1967, Meenakumari had waited for Pradipkumar a long time and was almost deciding to marry Ashokekumar when came the classic song “hum intezar karenge, tera qayamat tak,khuda Karen ki qayamat ho aur tu aye”.The song had such an everlasting impact that people forgot to pay homage to the serious performance of Ashokekumar who burnt himself in that film.


There are songs where Rafi had made people intoxicated. There are other songs where he had awakened the audience. One of the example is in the Film “ Bheegi Raat” .At the frag end of the film, the song “Dil Jo na kah saka wohi raz-e dil, kaheneki raat ayee.” It was picturised on Pradeepkumar in 1965 and song composed by Roshan in raag kalyan.


In the film “Zahanara” Rafi’s immortal song “ Baad muddat ke yeh ghari ayee, ap aye to zindagi ayee, isq marmar ke kamyab hua , aaj ek zarra aaftab hua” and “ kisiki yaad me aapnako hai bhulaye hue” had brought poetic passion in numerous Indians. People could not understand what to appreciate, Rafi’s poetic passion , or Bharatbhusan’s natural performance or the strong lyrics or Madanmohan’s composition. In the film “ Mirza Ghalib” Rafi had brought life into few quality ghazals composed by Ghalib himself where tunes were given by Ghulam Mohammad.


In the film “ Mere mehboob” released in 1963, the title song “ Mere mehboob tujhe meri muhhobat ki kasam , phir teri nargisi aankhoka sahara deden, mera khoyahua rangeen nazara deden” had brought the cultured pardanashin community of Aligarh to Cinemahall. Rafi’s sweetness and bass had overpowered the majestic screenpresence of Jubilikumar “ Rajenderkumar” , classic creation of Naushad and rich lyrics of Shakeel Badayani.The pandemonium hall of Aligarh University was opened for the classic song.


In Gurudutt’s Pyasa released in 1957, the climax of the film came into being when Gurudutt did not accept the recognition given to him by brothers in open hall.The famous song “ yeh mahalon , yeh takhton , yeh tajon ki duniya “ had created unrest in the cinema halls. Rafi’s voice had helped in social awakening. The song was composed by SD Burman. The same Rafi had mesmerized the listeners with his romantic mood in the film “Chawdavi ka chand” acted by Gurudutt , released in 1960,with the title song, “Chawdavikachandho, yah aaftab ho, jobhi ho tum khudakikasam lajawab ho”. The music was composed by Ravi. Rafi’s tragic andaz in the film Kagaz ka phool , released in 1959 had brought tears in the eyes of the audience with “ are dekhi zamane ki yaari, bichre sabhi, bari, bari.” The sensitive words were put in by Sahir Ludhiyanvi.


In most of the tragic situations Rafi had felt the pathos in himself while analyzing what the situation demanded. His song “koi sagar dil ko bahalata nahin” in the film “Dil diya dard liya” composed in raag kalawati had transformed intoxication into tragedy. It was released in 1966.In the film “ aadmi”, released in 1967, his song “ aaj purani raahon par koi mujhe awaz na den, dard me dube geet na den , gham ka sisakta saz naden” had made people think who was a better tragedian, Dilipkumar or Rafi himself. Both the lyrics were written by Shakeel Badayani and music composed by Naushad. In the film “ Kohinoor” released in 1960, Rafi had presented a pure classical andaz in the song “ Madhubanme radhika nacchere, giridharki muraliya bajere”.It was composed by Naushad in raag hamir and was picturised on Dilipkumar.In the same film there was totally different melody in the song “ Do sitaronka zammen par hai Milan aaj ki raat”.The words of Shakeel Badayani had been given adequate expression by Rafi.Aushad had given some serious compositions to Rafi like “ Ek shahanshah ne banwake hasin tajmahal sari duniyako muhabbatka nishani di hai.”It was composed in raag lalit in 1964 in the film “Leader” acted by Dilipkumar.

Mohammed Rafi

In the film “Meri surat teri aankhe” acted by Ashoke kumar , SD Burman had given Rafi one of the tragic raag Pilu, the song was“ Tere bin sune nayan hamare”. It was composed on the same lines as “ ami chinu eka basoro jagaye” in Bengali, sung by SD Burman himself. Other notable creations of SD Burman were “Aise to na dekho” in raag Gara in the film “ Teen Deviya” , “ hum bekhudime tumko pukare chaalegaye” in “Kalapani”, 1960 and “Din dhal jaye” in Guide, 1965 *.


In the film “ Lal patthar”(1971), Shankar jaikishan had composed for Rafi “ unke khayal aye to ate chaale gaye”in raag gara. There the nostalgic mood of badshah was presented by Rafi.Other quality creations of Shankar Jaikishan included “ Aji ruth kar ab kahan jaiyega” in raag desh in Aarzoo(1966) starring Rajenderkumar, “ Khudabhi asma se jab zamin par dekhta hoga” in the film ‘Dharti,” “ mujhko apne gale lagalo ai mere humrahi”( Humrahi, 1962) “surahidar gardan koel sihi awaz”in the film “ Aman”. The lyrics were written by Hasrat Jaipuri.


In creations of OP Nayyar, Rafi had mixed the eastern passion with western flavour. So in the song “Zulfke chayon me chehreka ujala lekar” in “Phir wahi dil laya hoon”(1963) written by Majrooh sultanpuri or “ Mujhe dekhkar aapka muskurana” in “ Ek musafir ek hasina” (1962) picturised on Joy Mukherjee , or “ Tukre hai mere dilke ai jan tera aansoo” in “Mere Sanam” (1965) picturised on Biswajeet, we find the voice floating with western air to suit the compositions.


Besides Rafi ‘s voice had been used in “Kabhi khudpe kabhi halatpe rona aya” (Humdono, 1961) by Jaidev, “Parabatoke Pedo par shamka basera hai’by Khayyam, “ ek sawal tum karon, ek sawal hum Karen” (Goonj uthi sahnai, 1959) by Wasant Desai.There were other composers also in those decade who had given their best creations to Mohammad Rafi. It is difficult to compile major songs of the legend who did sing around 25000 songs in a span of 35 years. But the songs are expected to be preserved for future generations as rich historical remains because the alfaz (words) and sur ( musical composition) were created not mechanically, but with the deepest thoughts from the core of the heart.


Tragedy King Dilipkumar had rightly said that “jaise indradhanush ke andar saat rang kaid hai, usi tarah rafi ki awaz ki ehmiat tafteez karne ke liye mere pass alfaaz nahin hai”, Meaning the way the seven colours (vibgyor), are immersed in a rainbow, in the same way it is not possible to express the significance of Rafi’s golden voice in words. An Archive on Mohamad Rafi’s works should be established where the creations of musical giants can be preserved. Furthermore the future generations can get inspiration for rich creation in future.


* [My father Sri Chittaranjan Chatterji, Ex Chief Public Prosecutor of Bankshall Court,Kolkata had interviewed classical Bengali singer “ Manobendra Mukherjee” who said his performance in the Bengali feature film “ Lalubhulu” featuring a blind and a handicapped young boy as friends was superceded by Rafi’s performance in the Hindi film “Dosti” for which Laxmikant Pyarellal won their first filmfare award in 1964.Manobendra Mukherjee said it was Rafi only who could have matched his performance .]

Article By: Souvik Chatterji.

Assistant Director
CUTS International,
Centre for Competition, Investment and Economic Regulation
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Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India
Ph: 91.141.2282821 (Board)
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