Special Issue: Part 2  

 (Un)Common Landscapes and Ruptured Memories: Autoethnographies of North Bengal

 The Quaint Little Town of Malbazar…

                                                                   by Medha Ghosh

A quaint little town set amidst the Himalayan ranges of Sikkim, Darjeeling and Bhutan is where I was born to. Surrounded by tea gardens (fig 1.2) this town is known for its picturesque view. With very little infrastructure at disposal, this rural-townscape seemed stagnant during my growing up days. These juxtaposing terms might look threatening but that’s how our Indian spaces are. Malbazar was a town because it had a municipality, a thana, educational institutes of various levels and a railway junction of its own. Subhasini Balika Vidyalaya (a girls' high school) came up in the fifties. A Government hospital was also set up. Soon the police station was shifted to Malbazar from nearby Kranti. In the 70s Malbazar got its Fire Service Station. But it lacked the speed of a rushing city and easy connectivity with frequent ‘link-failures’ (internet connectivity) at all the government offices when one needed to access it the most. 

Despite all its shortcomings, Mal has always been special to me. It is the birth place of three generation of ours. Our linkage to Mal dates back to the time when my great grandfather came to Samsingh, a nearby tea garden, in search of work from erstwhile East Bengal. However, he later shifted to making his own vulcanizing workshop.

Fig: 1.1 A view of Himalayas from Malbazar

Fig: 1.2 Raja tea estate near Malbazar

Before 1947 Malbazar was a very small place, mainly known for its tea gardens mostly owned by Britishers. Those tea gardens had a few Bengali white collar employees and the work force consisted of tribal people. After independence of India as well as partition of Bengal, refugees from the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) started to settle here and there by cut down forests. This was also the high period of British supremacy in India and Malbazar, as the name suggests was the central business district (CBD) for the nearby tea gardens. The area was called Mal i.e. a market place which was Indianized with the suffix of bazaar. Malbazar had a cantonment on its fringes which had a couple of Bengali army officials and doctors. They were quite acquainted with our family. It was on the request and demand for an entertainment factor in Malbazaar that Mr. Sarat Chandra Ghosh (my great grandfather) decided to set up a cinema hall here. Lack of immediate funds caused him to set up travelling cinemas, what in those days were called ‘bioscopes’. It toured from Malbazar to all the nearby tea gardens in Dooars. This was gradually followed by a concrete structure in the main bazaar road by the name of Sadhana Talkies in the year 1957. This little structure built to facilitate entertainment; not only catered to the Bengali populace in the army and the native tribal laborers of the tea gardens but also to the British population living in Dooars. Hence Sundays were specifically reserved for showcasing English movies.

Fig. 1.3: The ongoing construction and expansion of the Sadhana cinema hall, 1964

Fig. 1.4: The audience in the 1980s

A railway line passed through the town parting it into the daily market area and a residential area. The land of the residential area was called Panwar basti (Basti, derived from the word basati, is a typical residential area). This plot of land belonged to a lady called Pano Puri. Legends have it that she was a harlot of a British officer posted in a tea garden here, who in return of her services had given this plot of land to her. Adjacent to my house in Anandapally (as Panwar basti was rechristened), was a huge golf course and a polo ground with a club exclusively for the British.

My grandfather succeeded my great grandfather in the management of the cinema hall. Prior to taking up the authority of the cinema hall, he went to Calcutta to study radio engineering. Mr. Amalendu Ghosh or Buro Ghosh (as he was popularly known as) was also keenly interested in politics. He was twice elected as the Congress president of the Malbazaar block. It was during his hey days that political honchos like Jyoti Basu (erstwhile chief minister of Bengal), Maya Roy; wife of Siddharth Shankar Roy visited our house. My dadu’s consistent efforts led to the formation of Adarsha Bidya Bhawan (a boys’ High School) in an abandoned club of the Chinese. Students were collected from the local tea gardens with consistent effort. A teacher was brought in from Dohomoni a district town bordering Bangladesh. He stayed at our house. On further demands of the people of Mal, a girl’s school was opened by the name of Subhashini Girls High School. Since then, this has been the alma mater for my grandfather’s seven sisters. My father, Tapash Ghosh assisted my dadu in the business. He too was born and brought up here. My mother started living here since 1980s, after her marriage. She joined in Caesar School as an assistant teacher in 1985 and has rendered 27 years of service, which is till date the only English medium school in Malbazar. This school was set up by Rev. John Thawayats, a British, who fell so much in love with the town that he stayed back forever.

Malbazar, today, is one of the most important towns in Dooars. The town is strategically located in the western part of the Dooars region and due to its strategic location on the national highway, one can halt at Malbazar and visit the tourist destination of Western Dooars. There is a government tourist lodge in Malbazar apart from a few private accommodations. Like all other cities in India, Malbazar, too is undergoing an urban sprawl. The town is gradually growing in area and will continue to do so.

The bazaar has out grown its character from being a mere daily market for perishable items during the British period to a combination of both perishable and durable items. The station road (although lost its character after formation of New Mal Junction) has been extended to join the Subhash More as a market area which extends upto Kaltex More. Whether 50% of Malbazar turns urban or not, Malbazar has carefully retained its character of serenity and tranquility even almost after a century of its existence.

Author’s Bio- Note:

Medha Ghosh is an ex-student of the Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. She was born and brought up in Dooars and holds this as her favourite subject of introspection.

From the Editorial Desk........

 Special Issue  

 (Un)Common Landscapes and Ruptured Memories: Autoethnographies of North Bengal

Editors: Aparajita De and Rajib Nandi

In our collective imagination North Bengal is often synonymous with Kanchenjunga, Darjeeling tea and of idyllic vacations spent in the colonial hill station of Darjeeling, or the forest reserves of Jaldapara or Buxa, or perhaps the simple elegance of Gayatri Devi, Maharani of Jaipur and the Princess of the native state of Cooch Behar.

Though within Bengal yet North Bengal has always had a unique identity outside the realm of Bengal in terms of its history, culture, politics and geography. North Bengal could easily be referred to as a cultural and political frontier where many cultural regions overlap. Over the centuries, it has grown as a place of many cultures and even today, is strategically located within these multiple social and political boundaries. Historically the region is a melting pot of Brahmnical, mongoloid, Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian cultures having always welcomed people from different places to come and live here. Consequently, many ideas, cultures and races are socially assimilated with the place being founded and re-constituted several times, in addition its history being written, re-written and re-interpreted repeatedly.

North Bengal is also a site of resistances. Since the ancient period, the people here tried to maintain their own identity through both cultural exchanges on one hand and resistances against cultural and political aggression on the other. This place gave birth to several movements either in protest of colonial categorization or in protest of economic and social deprivation by the landlords. In the present era, the region has made its mark due to a series of social movements based on ethnic and lingual identity of its people.

Interestingly, a very large number of colonial documents exist on North Bengal, mostly ethnographic/linguistic/botanical surveys or land settlement reports. Post-independent North Bengal too witnessed a large number of writings on social and political issues by the local authors and scholars. Surprisingly a majority of these authors contributed outside the university system – through a large number of scholarly magazines, little magazines and newspapers. The uniqueness of North Bengal lies in this large volume of local literature that is being produced by authors outside the university system. There is no doubt that they contribute hugely in re-writing and re-documenting the regional and local histories.

The present series of the autoethnographies will explore self-reflective writings/photo essays that bring out uncommon views of common, everyday landscape through the authors’ personal experiences and memories that connect their autobiographical stories to the wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings of North Bengal.

Authors' Bio- Note:

The author is an Assistant Professor in Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.She is also the Convenor of the Department's Media Lab and Digital Library. She is currently working on Mediaspace, Bollywood and popular culture.

Rajib Nandi is a Research Fellow at Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi and holds Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  His areas of research interests include Social movements and Environment. 

Looking Back in Agony- A Photo Essay

                                                                        by Smriti Sengupta

Author's Bio- Note: 

Ms. Smriti Sengupta is a teacher by profession. She received her M.A. (Eng.) from North Bengal University in 1991 and started her career as a teacher. Apart from teaching Ms. Sengupta is an amateur photographer. She began to take pictures with an Agfa IV that belonged to one of her friends at the age of 18. Her photos were published in 'Vraman-Sangi'(Asia Publishing Co.), 'Desh', 'Sananda' (Journals published by Ananda Bazar Patrika Ltd.).Her favourite frame is Nature. But currently she is busy capturing images of dilapidated heritage buildings of North Bengal. Ms. Sengupta resides in Siliguri, West Bengal. She can be contacted at rsmati@gmail.com.

The Kullu Cannabis: Debate of Weed Legality

                                                            by Krishnanand

Travelling to the high mountains of Himachal Pradesh and crossing the 32nd parallel, has been a passion since my college days and still continues to be so; but now that it happens to be my area of research,  it has further caught my attention on various dimensions of culture, tradition and the attached debate of legality and legitimacy in past few years. The Weed debate has been on my mind for quite some time now, as it has become an integral part of youth popular culture and it has been frequently mentioned formally or informally by many travelers to Kullu valley on various platforms. 

As soon as I got an invitation to contribute to Media Lab, I thought about sharing a few things from my experience of travelling to the "land of gods", where with nature embedded in every  material and immaterial element, Weed legality has been an attraction and question simultaneously.

Upper reaches of Manali and Malana village, also called as “Valley of Refuge”, has been a sanctuary of occasional use to local criminals and drug dealers. It can be seen through the photographs, how the Malana creme (Hasish) grows and looks when its processed. Natural landscape of Malana is best suited for its growth and its is the integral part of this Malanis milieu.

Malana creme, the brand of dope processed by the villagers is considered to be one of the finest marijuana available anywhere in the world. Sources claim that it is also one of the highest priced dope in the international market and as claimed by the locals, the year 2012 hasn’t looked very promising as Israelis who form more than seventy per cent of their clientele every year, have not been that frequent. In recent years, government agencies have tried to dissuade the people from growing, processing and trading in the contraband, but have failed to eradicate marijuana farming.

Of course puritans would balk at photos of  intoxicated Malana men, blithely smoking  cannabis or young children rubbing cannabis so that it turns into the world famous ‘Malana creme’, but on the other hand, the locals feel that it their means of livelihood as nothing grows here in the given geo-climate to a commercial scale in order to sustain their family. 

Thus, the debate arose; what is legal and for whom? As observed, when the  season for harvesting of the weed comes, local administration takes all necessary steps to burn and trash these so that the drug dealers don't get anything, still through some preventive measures the locals manage to sell and earn their livelihood.

Under the Government of India's "Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,1985", possession of Charas is punishable by upto a year in prison. Despite this prohibition, each year the Kullu District produces about 11 tons of charas; bulk of which comes from Malana, which is smuggled to Europe and sold under names like Shanti Baba and White Widow.

Amlan Datta in his film "BOM- One day ahead of Democracy" has shown how an idyllic village is now in transition, how an ancient civilization is threatened by modern day  democracy. The changes are apparent all around – Cannabis, an integral part of the villagers’ lives is now illegal, goat pastures are being replaced by a dam and the region’s beautiful mountains are being gashed by roads.

Cannabis was traditionally used to produce footwear and as a medicine. But it has now become a lucrative business for the “foreign drug mafia” and consequently for “the local mafia and political strongmen”.  The villagers say that experiments with alternative crops such as peas and kidney beans have failed miserably and hence they resorted to the naturally occurring cannabis crop to earn some money. 

The  future  to  this  debate  lies in the fact whether the  locals of the valley will be able to survive as an Ancient Democracy with socio-cultural and ethnological uniqueness along with Cannabis (weed) as an integral part of their culture or will they be completely transformed in the light of modern ways of living, influences of power, money, politics and unethical ecological practices as prevalent in the outside world. The answer can only be found in the interplay of outside influences, their corresponding responses by the local and ability to sustain the techno-cultural invasions over time. 

Author's Bio- Note:

Krishnanand is a Research Scholar at
Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. 

Bird Watching and Following…..

                                                                                      by V. S. Negi

The Red-wattled Lapwing or टिटहरी ; as it is commonly and locally known is an interesting, attractive and commonly breeding resident of the plains surrounding river Yamuna in North India. 

From the Charadriiformes  Order of Charadriidae Family, this bird is found in open areas and wetlands. It is characterized by a typical plover with black tipped red bill, crimson red wattle and bright yellow legs, but moreover identified by its screaming sound; like a loud alarm call which is variously rendered as ‘Did he do it‘ or ‘Pity to do it’, leading to colloquial names like the “Did-he-do-it bird”.

Although most Charadrids live on or near water, some species prefer ploughed fields, grazing land, margins  and dry beds of tanks and puddles or grasslands or open areas to lay eggs.

Although they are usually seen in pairs or small groups; not far from water, but they may also form large flocks in the non-breeding season. While nesting, they will attempt to dive bomb or distract potential predators. Both the male and the female incubate the eggs and divert predators using distraction displays or flash their wings to deter any herbivores that threaten the nest.

The diet of the Lapwing includes a range of insects, snails and other invertebrates, mostly picked from the ground. They may also feed on some grains.

In parts of India, a local belief is that the bird sleeps on its back with the legs upwards and an associated Hindi metaphor Tithiri se asman thama jayega ("can the pee-wit support the heavens?") is used when referring to persons undertaking tasks beyond their ability or strength. In parts of Rajasthan, it is believed that the laying of eggs by the lapwing on high ground is an indication of good rains to come.

The reproductive success of Red-wattled Lapwing is about 40%. Egg mortality is high due to presence of natural predators like the mongoose, the crow and the kite. The newly hatched Chicks have even lower mortality and their survival improves only after their first week…… My wishes for their happy surrounding, our surrounding!

Author's Bio- Note:

V.S. Negi is an Associate Professor at Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and an avid bird- watcher.

Issue of Big Dams in the North-East

                                             by Trishna and Neepjyoti

Big dams are a raging debate in India. Rivers, and big dams built across them, have created different kinds of furore in all sides of the country - in the west the Narmada Dam, in the North the Tehri Dam, in the South the Mulla-periyar dam and in the East the Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power Project, to just name a burning few. The cumulative issues regarding the ownership, use and flow of rivers is a platform for diabolic political, economic and social debates. Here lives of millions are at stake, so is the economic development, while some might say even the very political independence of the country.

The Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric project (LHSP) on the Subansiri river, a tributary of Brahmaputra in Assam, is a much publicly-opposed and politicized mega-dam in North-east India. This project started in 2007 by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, promises to provide 2000 mega-watt of power. This power production is understood to be for distribution mainly in mainland India. There is intense public opposition to this dam fearing the fragile nature of the eco-system, the tectonic instability of the Himalayan area in which it is being built, flooding of villages in the reservoir area (which will be about 35 sq.km size) as well as lack of availability of water in the downstream areas which are all highly agriculture-centric.

As a final year Planning student, my husband undertook his thesis on the socio-political implications of this LHSP. During the course of his thesis, he did a biking road-trip (which also includes some boat-rides with the bike!) to understand the issues of the LHSP by talking to the people and visiting the dam sites in the year 2011. Here is a photo essay of what he saw.

Photo Set-1: The Lower Subansiri Hydroelctric Project site:

Figure 1: The massiveness of the project can be understood by the size of the Ambassador cars at the base of the site.

Figure 2: The hillsides have been excavated to build reservoirs.

Figure 3: This is the normal width of the river, as against the width of the river in Figure 2 above. This area is also under excavation and cutting and will be eventually widened.

Photo Set 2: The impact of the dam in the down-stream:

Figure 4: Heavy siltation of the river Brahmaputra in Tezpur, which is located on the downstream of the Lower Subansiri Project.

Figure 5: Due to heavy siltation the river bed has reached the level of the bridge from which the photograph has been taken.

Figure 6: The rail bridge on the  far-side from which the photograph is taken is also facing a similar fate. The sand bed has reached the level of the rail-track.

Figure 7: Houses on the Subansiri river valley are getting submerged under heavy siltation. This particular house is already half submerged. The height of the ground has reached the windows.

Figure 8: Steps have been cut in the silt which is piling up around the house, to conveniently enter into the house.

Figure 9: As the house is getting immersed in silt outside, the dwellers have started raising their house-hold belongings on stilts to keep above water during the rains. As seen in this figure, the beds have been put on stilts and boards.

Figure 10: This was a 'chang-ghar' , meaning a house built on stilts, a style popular amongst tribal people. As evident, the stilts are no longer required.

Figure 11: This is a guava tree. After the whole tree trunk got submerged in the silt, now fruits can be plucked standing right next to it!

Authors Bio- Note:

Trishna and Neepjyoti are both Urban Planners from CEPT University, Ahmedabad. They are also alumni from the Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics. Both are currently posted as Assistant Directors in the Directorate of Town & Country Planning, Assam. They share a love for travelling and photography.