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In this issue
NEWS CI RCLE
This issue is ded icated to the Newcomer . This seems appropriate since we are starting out on a new publishing year with an almost new staff. A mother bird forcefeeding her fledgling evolved into J ohn Blee's handsome cover picture. This also seems appropriate, since J ohn is a student of Sue F oster Greene, (a r tistic m ainstay of News Circle for years), who leaves us this year. We bid her a sad adieu. We will miss her . We
will also miss Helen Killbridge, who, (midst shopping and packing) wrote the welfare story-an account of some solid results of our Club's scholarship program. News Circle, as even the newest newcomer soon learns, is the sole financial support of the A WC's welfare committee. Helen Kanrich braved July dust and heat to get the village shots which accompany the story. The one survival of last year 's st aff (joy was unconfined when sh ~
returned from home leave) is Edith Webster. She tells the new arrival how to learn about New Delhi without leaving the hotel's air conditioner. Her story is illustrated by Judy Cooperman. The unsung heroi ne of th is issue is Judy's mother , the advertising m an ager , who !JOUnded the pavement in 110 degree summer heat, getting all our ads set for the year.
A delight to this editor is the fact th at Audrey Henriksen, Books Qf''\c~r for QSIS . .who h as, duri ng her career, been responsible for the pub! r_.,n of millions of books, is in t urn being l)ublished by us! You'll en joy her wry acc"ount of a trip t o Timur's fabled land. We also introduce new writers fo r old favorite columns- Ruth Obee, Katherine Har ris, P epita K auffm an and Lem an F otos.
Lastly, you 'h ave a new editor who is grat eful to a staff that made the issue so painless a production.
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Delhi Date Book 6
Our Scholarship P rogram -And How It Grew 9
Delhi's H istoric Highroads 12
Tashkent- Sam arkand-Bokhara -A Visit to Timur's Land 14
News From Paris
Your Garden
Market Fare
In !vlemoriam
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NEWS CI RCLE
Vol : XT o. J
n ews cir cle The official publication of the
American Women's Club of Delhi
Edi tor :
Penny P"tT
Writers :
I !den Killbridge And rey H enriksen
fdith Webster
Pepit3 Ka11ffman I cman faros Ruth Obee
Katherine Harri <
Gloria lhiley
Ar tists:
John Rlee
Judy Cooperman
P hotographer :
Helen Kanri ch
Ad vertising :
Tillie Cooperman
Circulation :
Jud y R"ndall
Officers of the American "\Vomen's Club:
Honorary P resident :
Mrs. C hester Bowles
President :
lvlr<. Albert Perrelli C- r Defence Colony - 75 H9
Vice-President :
Mrs. William D ecker 8 Kautil ya M arg- 35296
Record ing Secretary :
Mrs. Edward Gleed T 2-A Friends Colony . 72140
orresponding Secretary :
Mr<. Samuel E. Bunker 4 South End lane . 6rr536
Treasurer :
Mrs. Wayne Sanford A.1 i Green Park . 72386
Address all correspondence to
P. 0 . Box 3014, New Delhi
2-A, Alipur R oad,
Near Swiss Hotel , Delhi ··6
(Opening a branch in New Delhi Ll5 early as possible)
SEPiEMBER 1965
A word fron1 the President
Welcome home! Welcome to Delhi wh ich you w ill soon call home.
The American Women's Club is organized to help you make Delhi one of the most interesting places you '> ave lived. One of the Club's nain obj ectives is to help you
know ana enJOY tne mmmunity of Delhi , through co-operation with other organizations and individuals. In order to achieve this goal, a number of committees hwe been working throughout the summer m onths planning activities which will make it possible for you to become acquainted with the people and places of our community. We urge you to participate in these activities.
Maybe this is the time to pursue a special interest for - which you never quite had time. The Club offers opportuni ties in creative writing, teaching of English to eager Indian students, painting, welfare work , photography and many other satisfying activities. Most important, it provides an introduction to the p20pl e of Delhi. both Americans and Indians.
Dorothy Perrelli
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AMIRICAN IXPRISS asian NEW DELHI
6
Dfltil DAT£ BOOK.
by Ruth
In August future dates and events are as elusive as that really good dhurzi expected every day. Insofar as possible, every resource outside the local astrologer was checked. In the forecast, there is much to anticipate, few specifics and perhaps a bit of inaccuracy. Watch the local newspapers for events scheduled after press deadline.
Theatre
Children's drama will highlight the first month of the Bengali theatrical season. A theatrical group from Calcutta will perform "Arun Barun Kirnmala", a children's drama, at the All-India Fine Arts and Crafts Society auditorium on September 3, 4, and 5 at 6: 30 p.m.
The professional Mukhosh (masque) will present a series of three adult plays by playwright-director Turun Roy. Performances are scheduled for September 9-12 at the air-conditioned AU<'ACS hall.
Also at AIFACS, the Delhi Children's Little Theatre and Bharatiya Natya Sangh are co-sponsoring a seminar on children's theatre w hich will be climaxed by a puppet show September 19 at 6 : 30.
Less than three years ago, a group of young Indian actors were engaged to tour various universities and colleges in North India in a production of Robert Sherwood's "Abe Lincoln in Illinois". As a result of the tour's succ:ess, a theatrical reperatory company was born. Yatrik (which means "travelling theatre") began its first season in Delhi, July 1964, receiving high praise from spectators and critics alike.
This year Yatrik is opening its season on September 11 with a performance of a Hindi adaptaLon of the American phy "Seven Year Itch". The play will run Saturday and Sunday for four weekends. This wi ll be followed in October by Shelagh Delaney's "A Taste o[ Honey".
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NEWS CI RGLE
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Yatrik is trying something new and exciting in children's drama. In October they plan to produce "The Dancing Donkey", translated into English from a Dutch play. The cast includes a friar, a donkey, and a satisfying two villains and two heroines. The production will feature music, colorful costumes and sets.
Membership in Yatrik ent itles one to see six plays at reduced rates and free attendance at all special programs, such as theatre seminars, poetry readings and lectures.
Music and Dance
Choral and instrumental groups are warming up for the fall concert season. The Delhi Choral Society, under the direction of Arthur Mohinder, is preparing a September concert to feature selections from Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Gondolier". Keep your calendars open in December for the first concert of the season by the Delhi Symphony Orchestra directed hy Harold Joseph. If you can read music, carry a tune or play an instrument, you are invited to try out for either the choir or orchestra (or both). Mr. Mohinder may be reached in the evening at 4773'.2 and Mr. J o:;eph during the day at 31584.
Sri Dandapuri Desigar, the Indian vocalist, will p2rform at Sapru House September 18. N aliniBharya wa will appear at Sapru House in a Bharatiya Natyam dance recital September 26.
Films
It is now possible to see a representative selection of some of the best films produced by India's film industry. By becoming a member of the Indian Film Club, one is entitled to see ten pre-selected films in addition to being admitted free to a "Satyajit R:iy Films Week". Ray directed the great Indian film "R:ibindranath Tagore" which won first ririze for documentaries at the International Film Festiva l in
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SEPTEMBER 1965
Locarno, Switzerland, and "Teen Kanya", which has also received many international awards.
Art Exhibits
There will be a number of important firsts in September art shows, incrnding the first exhibit of New Zealand art and of American graphic arts to be shown in India. The graphic arts show by noted American women artists will be at Triveni Kala Sangam from September 25 to October 4. The fifty piece show, co-sponsored by the United States National Association of Women Artists and the Inter-National Cultural Center, consists of lithographs, woodcuts, lino cuts, intaglios and relief prints. It is Inter-National Cultural Center's contribution to International Cooperation Year, a project conceived by the late Jawaharlal Nehru.
At AIF ACS, August 27 through September 5, from four to eight p.m., an exhibit of contemporary New Zealand painting and ceramics w ill be shown. The show comprises a total of forty paintingspredominately landscapes.
Other Exhibits
AIFACS September 23-29 P. T. Reddy, Oils.
Shridharani Art Gallery - Triveni Kala Sangam
September 1-7 D. B. Bagdi, Oils. 8-13 Delhi Cloth and General Mills-new
Winter fabrics 14-20 Jarum Patel, Oils. 21-24 J . R. Yadava, Oils.
Miscellany
An effortless way to look trim and lovely is to treat yourself to a facial and massage at Lakme Beauty House at 54 Hanuman Road. In air-conditi~:med comfort, one can relax and at the same time lose inches with a body massage. Facials include everything from special treatments to eyebrow shapingthe idea is to have a fresh face to go with the new hair-do. While you are there, you may enjoy browsing in the Boutique which specializes in gift items and lacy, drip-dry night wear.
By the time News Circle is distributed at your door, the Oberoi Intercontinental will have opened, becoming India's largest hotel. Hotel guests will be accommodated in modern air-conditioned bedrooms and will have a choice of seven restaurants in which to dine- specializing in everything from European cuisine to Chinese food. Delhi res idents are eligible for membership in the Cabana Swimming Club as well as the health club. Membership in the latter entitles the holder to free use of the gymnasium facilitiesfrom Turkish baths to saunas. Other features of the hotels are shopping center, a dance floor set on an artificial lake and a roof-top lounge.
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Our Scholarship Aluninae . .. and. how they grew
by Helen Killbridge
phato,{!raphs by Helen Ka11rirh
Each year in. India , potential talent is frustrated and e1Je 11 lost, because a great 11111nber ~f young people ca1111ot ~fliird ad1Ja11ced education. Iii the Weljare Co11t111ittee ~f the A 111ericai1 Wo111e11's Club , this need has become the key to its operatio11 . Si11rr 19 59 we have spent 111ost ~(our lmr(~et 011 scholarships i11 the field <f social 11Jeljarr.
C ALM, cheerful and disposed to serve their fellow men, the women featured here exemolify the
class of young women who are coming forward to do public service in modern independent India. They form part of a growing alumnae of the A WC Scholarship program. Now and in the future, News Circle would like to report on their progress.
Miriam John dai ly goes from hospital teaching to mothering her year and a half old daughter. She describes herself as the "first born" of the A WC scholars. In her story and those of the other alumnae, we learn of the progress in crucial welfare areas of two local institutions.
·'I applied for and received the American Women's Club's first scholarship in 1959. After ten months of t raining at the Hygiene Institute in Calcutta, I returned to Lady Hardinge where I was given the opport unity to take over the Domiciliary Department and inaugurate the necessary improvements.' '
Mrs. John is a weekly visitor to Najafgarh where she is lia ison between the Lady Hardinge classroom and the field where student nurses are working.
Her work also complements that of Miss E. S. Wi ll iams who uperates the Family Planning Clinic at Lady Hardinge. As a matter of fact, the nursing program there early integrates an awareness of the fa mily planning field and methods of teaching it.
i\lfrs. Jolin arrives at 11il/agc healt!t miter
Miss Williams received her American Women's Club scholarship in 1962. She attended the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health Institute in Calcutta dur ing 1962-63. Her opportunity at Lady Hardinge came after t his when a vacancy occurred in the Family Planning Clinic there. She has since become the clinic's head nurse.
"Motivation is the basic concept of our clinic." reports Miss Williams. ·'In spite of our conservative social and cultural oattern of living, I think we are succeeding to a great extent in motivatin g and sensit izing parents regarding the necessity of fami ly planning. Each month now we are receiving around 100 new clients in our cl inic.
'' I would like to underline the need there is for t ra ining such as the kind I and others have received."
For more than a year now, Miss P . M. Kurian has been supervi::mr of the student nurses at Lady Hardinge's Rural Health Training Center in Najafgarh.
"Un ti l 1963'". she says, '·I was a bedside n urse. but felt I wanted to follow a slightly different career. Thro ugh the scholarship award of the American Women's Club. ! was able to get the necessary education. I took post-graduate trainin.g in Public Health Nursing at Calcutta and became a qualified P ublic Hea lth Nurse.
"Lady Hardinge's Rural Health Training Center at Najafgarh, Delhi , is a part of their integrated public health nursing curriculum for student nurses. At
Miss K11rim1 11isirs a 11illage
Najafgarh I train six students per month in rural field work. They live here and participate in the activities of the Primary Health Center.
"As you may know, India is divided into Community Development Blocks .. . there are about 5,000. Each Block has a Primary Health Center and each of these has sub-centers in order that there may be medical help available to the remotest villages. In the area around Delhi there are three primary health centers, each of which has three sub-centers. The combined health coverage takes care of about 100,000 people in 73 villages. · For each center the government provides one doctor, one public health nurse, four staff, six midwives and one compouuder (dispenser of medical preparations). This basic staff is augmented in a number of ways such as by interns from a city hospital, or through help provided by our students.
"The Lady Hardinge students do home visiting and practice their district nursing. Simple nursing procedures are demonstrated to the relatives of the sick. F ormal and informal types of health talks are given as the occasion arises.
"I take the students on observation visits to the other primary health centers near Delhi, to the subcenters, and to community organizations and volunteer agencies. Lectures and demonstrations are given on rural sanitation:"
Najafgarh outpatient rooms on an ordinary day are filled beyond capacity with local people carrying in their sick and injured. Relatives or neighbors bring them in by bullock cart. On arrival they are a hot, tired lot, but they wait patiently and quietly for treatment. It is to the relatives and friends that the student nurses address themselves, giving their illustrated lessons in hygiene and instructin.g them in diseases brought on by improper sanitation.
On the days the girls go to nearby villages, in the company of Miss Kurian and the village san itary
engineer , they also help the Health Center maintain up-to-date h istories of villagers by t aking information for the Village Family Records.
This record can well form the background fol' excellent family health care, covering as it does every detail of fami ly life, personal habits, income, religion, caste attributes, housing, di sposition toward change in sanitation and family planning. The variables in this well organized health care are two and they can m ake or break the health center's effectiveness. First i.s the villager's interest and cooperation and second the adequacy of the center's staff. If the Health Center's work is carried through to a successful conclusion, the families of vi llagers are cared for from birth to 14 years when they leave school.
However. the same sturdy mdividualism of the vill a.gers that one admires in pe rsona l contact wi th them, is a detriment to cooperative effo,,~s lietween village and health center and among villagers them>:~lves in trying to est ablish modern health practices.
While th ~ se are some of the cr uci al fin al problems, Public Health people face more immediate ones. Transporta tion is one. At Lady Hardinge, UNICEF' has partially solved this problem by providing a van. But one vehicle cannot cover t he needs of outlying village work and midwiferv attendance in the city.
1\1rs. j o/111 advises patimt
Perhaps it is Public Health's primary concern with preventative measures, rather than accidents and incurable cases, that gives their workers an ail of continual sunny optimism. One's sympathies 3re naturally extended to medical workers in the lat ter fields, but one cannot help but be carried along by the hopefulness characterizing such Public Health workers as Mrs. John and the Misses Williams and Kurian. They are, after all. on the paths of the future.
From the P unjab comes the fourth alumna, Miss Gurbaksh Hundal, a soft-spoken, attractive girl with an air of purposefulness and inner serenity. She has ·wanted from childhood to do work that would
Patients al Ph ysic-Orwpatio11al Therapy Center
ease the lives of the many unfortunates among her fellow countrymen. She started out with the intent of studying medicine and then learned of the great need for trained therapists to work with the handicapped.
"Many people will go into the medical profession," ' she says, "but in this field the need is old but the service to the need is new. I chose the new." She is a valued member of the staff these days. She completed her final year of Occupational Therapy training sponsored by an A WC scholarship. Two years of Physio-Therapy and two of O.T. are required for qualification. Miss Hundal was qualified last year.
Many American Women's Club members are familiar with the Physio-Occupational Therapy Center and Sheltered Workshop founded, organized and still functioning under Mr. N. Swarup. It was ten years old this summer. From its original four patients and
JHiss H1111aa/ s11pervisrs exams at Pli ysio-Ocmpatic>11al Therapy Center
Three st11de11t 1111rses at Najafg11rh PH C
two workers it has expanded into an institution which counts 150 residential patients alone, in addition to which come people by the day from all over north India. It services eleven states of north India as well as Kashmir. It has on its regular staff twelve therapists plus students who work under their supervision. -They can use many more qualified therapists but once again acquiring them means educating them. There are not many people interested who can also afford the education. Miss Hundal is another out;tanding example of the value of the right amount of help to an individual at the right moment.
At thP time of this wr iting, Welfare Committee members are meeting with institutional directors in Delhi to choose the scholarship students for 1965-66. This month, the committee, under its new chairman, Mrs. Donna Newberry, w ill be.gin a new year, looking for more of the kind of dedicated members they have counted on in the past, and looking for new and better ways to direct the expenditure of the American Women's Club welfare funds.
12
To step into the streets of Delhi is to step back through the pages of Indian history. Though the newest of the so-called seven cities of Delhi is one of the youngest of important world capitals, both the name and its location as an administrative center are ancient. Many of its streets are named for people who shaped and colored the events of this area over the centuries.
Taken chronologically, Chandra Gupta Marg and Chanakyapuri (known also as Diplomatic Enclave) celebrate the most ancient h istorical period, though neither of these men were important to the city of Delhi. Chandra Gupta was the founder of a remarkable empire that grew and flourished several centuries before the beginning of the Christian era. Chanakya was his chief counselor. Together they built a bureaucratie structure that was astonishingly modern in many respects and that led to a golden age of peace and prosperity all over northern India and west to Kabul.
By first subduing the satrapies created by Alexander the Great in that part of the P ersian Empire that later became the Punjab, Gupta _and his aid succeeded through a combination of force a,nd conciliation in uniting all the area from the Himalayas south into the
NEWS CIR CLE
Delhi's Historic Highroads
By Edith Webster
Ili11stra1iou hy Judy Cooprri11n11
Deccan. This Mauryan Empire consisted of a series of provinces ruled by viceroys representing a central government. Though it was a police state, making liberal use of trained spies in a far-flung espionage system, it developed a civil service of trained and educated administrators and a revenue system that has persisted in its broadest aspects to this day. Chandra Gupta's Great Royal Highway, precursor to the Grand Trunk Road on today's maps, was a wonder of the ancient world, and he remains a hero of legend and poetry.
A principal thoroughfare cutting across New Delhi from India Gate is n am ed for Chandra Gupta's grandson Asoka, perhaps the greatest and certainly the most respected of Hindu monarchs. By conquest, Asoka added the territory of the Kalingas, an East coast maritime power, to the Mauryan Empire, thus uniting all the subcontinent except the present States of Kerala and Madras. Then, regretting the bloodshed of battle, he adopted the principles of Buddhism (at that time considered a sect of the Hindu religion) and turned from conqueror to propagandist as a means of fostering peace and good will among m en . Carving his pious edicts -'Ind injunctions upon rocks
and pillars, he became a missionary of tolerance and compassion extending to all mankind.
Hindu literature of Asoka's time describes life in idyllic terms. Industry was organized into guilds of craftsmen enjoying considerable prestige and power. Education and material wealth were fairly widespread and the arts flourished. The Mauryan capital, Pataliputra, continued as a center of culture and learning, to dominate intellectual life for many centuries.
Delhi can boast two Lmportant relics of the Asokan era. A Muslim monarch of a much later period brought two of - Asoka's famou" pillars to this area and re-erected them at h is seat of government as a symbol of sovereignty.
Indraprastha Marg, connecting Mathura Road to Ring Road not far from Hardinge Bridge, is another reference to the very ancient past. The town of Indraprastha is mentioned in the Mahabharata, a collection of poetry from the Vedic period when the Hindu scriptures were written and Hindu religion and society assumed the forms enduring to this day. A place of h abitation wrested from the wilderness and dedicated to Indra. the great Aryan god of the rain
NEWS CIRCLE
and thunderbolt. Indraprastha may be the original and earliest city of Delhi , antedating by far any of the seven cities of historical record. But this is speculation, for all that remains of it now is the name of a village Indraprat.
L~ading out of Delhi in the southeast toward Agra and the Taj Mahal is Mathura Road. As the name indicates, this also leads to Mathura, another ancient city of great historical interest, center of a school of sculpture that flourished in t he classical Gupta era in the early centuries A.D., and for over a thousand years a scene of unparalleled artist ic achievement. Its beautiful temples were destroyed by Muslim invaders in the eleventh century A.D.
Returning to roads named for hi storical personages, the next allusion chronologically is to Prithviraj , the last of the Hindu rulers of Delhi before the rise of the Muslim dynasties. Prithviraj Road is a lovely, tree-lined boulevard traversing the residential area south of the Mall and India Gate. It commemorates a valiant monarch who was unable to stem the tide of Muslim invas ion after Hindu society had gradually become rigid and decadent in the centuries following the Gupta era. He met the forces of Mohammed Ghori in battle in 1191, defeated them and put them to route-temporarily. The next year Ghori returned with stron{;l:r and better organized armies, and Prithviraj was captured and executed.
Mohammed Ghori departed. leaving behind a viceroy or. governor who chose Delhi as his seat of government though it w as at that time only a small provincial town. Thl• viceroy. a former slave of Mohammed Ghori , was elected sultan after his master's death. and the suc.:ession he fo unded is known as thE: "Slave Dynasty." His name , -;a~ Qutb-ud-din and the Quth i IJ: inar celebrates his rule over an 'rea including the Punjab, the ~ r. J·J-3rngetic Pla ins, and Bengal. i" ·d y il 12 first story of the Quth
tower lying south of resent-day Delhi is believed to have been complete at the time of his death in 1210 A.D.
The area ruled from Delhi began to shrink as various Hindu groups organized successful uprisings, and the Slave Dynasty was replaced by two more Turkish sultanates; first the Khiljis and then the Tughlaks, for whom Tughlak Road is named. Th2 first Sultan of the Tughlak Dynasty built Tughlaqabad, one of the seven cities of Delhi. Ferozshah Road, a few blocks north of the Mall, celebrates the reign of the most benevolent (and the most fanatical) of the Tughlak sultans, who is said to have founded a m arri age bureau and a labour exchange and to have started extensive irrigation works in the Punjab.
The Tughlaks proved weak and unwarlike, however. and by the end of their reign the Sultanate of Delhi was confined to the Punjab and areas immediately surrounding Delhi. Mohammed, one of the most headstrong of the Tughlak line and a particularly bad administrator, at one point moved the capital to Daulatabad and forced the entire population of Delhi to march to the
l '\.r
13
new site. Nizam-ud-din (for whom a neighbourhood in New Delhi is named) a respected sage of the period, predicted that the new capital would not ·endure. His prediction came true when the wells dried up shortly afterward.
Tughlak weakness paved the way for invasion by Timur (the Tamarlane of Western literature, conqueror of Persia and Afghanistan) whose soldiers sacked and plundered the city and massacred a large number of Delhi's inhabitants. The Tughlak reign continued for a time after this, but Delhi w~s reduced to a provincial capital of no importance.
Lodi Road is named for a shortlived dynasty of Afghan kings between the Tughlaks and the Great Moghuls, who would raise Delhi once again to a position of power and influence. The tombs of the Lodi kings, preserved in the Lodi Gardens, were a promise of architectural splendor to come. The Lodis succeeded to the throne of Delhi when Buhlul Lodi, commander of the Army, took over to arrest further decay of the kingdom. His son Sikander (Sikandra Road)
(Co11ti11 11cd 011 pagr 23)
•
"The chililren 11•rite it's been warm in New Delhi, too"
Ruins of Timur's Bibi Khanoun Mosque-Samarkand
1 ashkent -Samarkand- Bokliara : A JI isit to 1 imur' s Land
By Audrey Henriksen
Photographs by A11thor
F or the Delhi traveler, a trip to Uzbekistan necess3rily includes a stay in Afghanistan , unless some ingenious round-about route is devised. Hearsay to the contrary, no direct flight connects Delhi and Tashkent-and via Kabul stopovers are inevitable, whether going or coming. However, I was as much interested in Kabul and its environs as in Uzbekistan when I started out on my trip last May and welcomed the Kabul visits. The following schedule provided ample time for both places :
De-lhi to Kabul, Saturday Kabul to Tashkent, the following Thursday
(The Samarkand-Bokhara side-trip was arranged in Tashkent.)
Tashkent to Kabul , the following Wednesday Kabul to Delhi, Thursday
I remember being a little surprised at actually finding myself on t he plane that Saturday morning with necess3ry visas and receipts in hand. Only two weeks had been allowed for all arrangements, and they had barely been completed before the close of business the previous day. Part of the flurry had, been caused by a belated request to Moscow-trans- · mitted by Mercury Travels, the Intourist agent in Delhi-to include Bokhara in my itinerary. If Bokhara had not m ade its last-minute appearance on m y vis3, I could not have visited that interesting city. Therefore, my first two tips to travelers who may wish to duplicate my trip are :
1. Allow m.are than two weeks for arrangements. Moscow Intourist must be informed of travel
plans and signify its approval before a visa can be issued.
2. Be careful to include in your original itinerary all of the places which you may possibly wish to visit; w hat you don't ask for , you don't receive!
May 8 to 13, 1965 proved to be a beautiful tim e to visit Afghanistan. The weather was perfect, valleys were green, and blossoms were out. Two weeks before, visitors had shivered in cold rain and slipped in sticky mud. The new, modern airport was ) inviting to enter (the charge for using it, collected on -departure, was 100 afghanis-about $ 1.50) , and the passengers were whisked through passport control and customs without having to sign even one paper! Free transportation into Kabul was provided. I tried out the two main hotels during my two stays-the Kabul, which is government operated, and the new Spinzar, privately operated-and found them good and charges moderate. For a change from hotel fare, there is the Khyber, a modern restaurant with an American-style cafeteria behind the main diningroom. Sight-seeing in and near Kabul can be worked out with taxi drivers-or one may arrange trips through the Tourist Bureau located next door to the Spinzar Hotel.
I shall not attempt to describe Kabul or the trips out from the city-better descriptions than I could give are easily available-but I shall mention exit visas because every tourist I met in Kabul was
SEPTE M BER 1965
sooner or later involved in some predicament concerning them. Yes, an exit visa is needed for every departure and, no, it cannot be obt-ained at the airport. The traveler with a regular tourist passport can get his exit visa in a few minutes at the police station, provided he applies during office hours, but the holder of a passport which has to go through t he Embassy to the appropriate government ministry has to take into consideration the following points: Government offices are open only until 4 p.m. five days a week; Thursday afternoons and Fridays they are closed; the Embassy is closed Friday and Sunday ; religious and other holidays pop up unexpected ly.
Tip No. S. Arrange for your e.rit visa and for your re-2ntr11 visa, if you are returning to Afghanistan, as soon as possible after arriving ir1 Kabnl.
Visas taken care of, T boarded Afrflot May 13 for Tashkent and was there almost before I could make my way through a large p3cket of brown cookies \vh ich was served, with tea, en route. Two fellow Americans were on the plane-brothers, Henry and Clay, both retired, the former, the elder. Clay's Kabul departure had been enlivened by his having recovered in that last hour his USSR visa. which had been lost at the airport on his arrival. In the meantime. thanks to some fast work, he had obtained a duplicate visa, which a representative of the USSR Embassy breathlessly retrieved at the last minute on being informed that the original visa had been found .
Tip No. 4. Keep a careful eye on your USSR visa. It is on a separate piece of paper and is, incider1tall11, retained on 11our departure from the USSR.
15
dumbfounded to find Henry in the outer hall muttering angrily because his baggage had not been thoroughly searched, a procedure which he had been assured was inevitable and for which he had carefully prepared. The grumbling continued all the way to the car and even after we were on our way into the city, in spite of my cheerful and philosophic remarks about being thankful for favours. But, of course, I was thinkmg of the small library in my tlight bag.
The Tashkent Hotel, where tourists stay-and I saw no other hotel- is in the heart of Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan and a city of about 1.200,000 inhabitants. The hotel faces a square which is adorned with a large fountain. behind which is the opera house. To the left is a printing and publishing establishment and to the right a relatively new, three-storey department store. very modern in design. in contrast to other Russian buildings. and neonlighted at night, to provide some sparkle. I guess, for the store has no competitors to outshine. A few small shops are fo und along the side streets and the.re are some stores in the suburbs. The city is dean and well kept.
In the hotel's Intourist office, the receipt w hich I had carried from Delhi showing that I had paid in advance for hotels, food. and sightseeing was conv2rted into a book of coupons. from w hich t he guide immediately extracted the coupons covering my stay at the Tashkent Hotel. There is no last-minute paying of hotel bills for tourists in the USSRt While my passport was being registered, the guide was off to another part of the hotel to arrange for the sidetrip to Samarkand and Bukhara. In five minutes he was back with my ticket, reservations all taken care
The Intourist guide was at the plane to meet us of. The only effort I had to make was to exchange when we disembarked. Like all Intourist guides enough money to obtain the 19 rubles (a ruble is
( with whom I have had any ________________ ______ ---- ----·---·. dealings, he spoke good English and was pleasant, helpful, and efficient. The customs declaration sounded rather forbidaing, and the statement about reading material gave me pause. I had unthinkingly brought along my usual large collection of books. But the customs officer showed interest only in the amount of money being brought in, which he asked to see but, in my case at least, did not count. Grateful for his sp~edy dismissal. I was
Job's. W ell (pre-Gengnis Khan) in Bokhara
Kolon Mosque-Bokhara
about $ 1.19) to pay the bill, a transaction quickly handled by Intourist. Incidentally, if I had been going to Samarkand only, the bill would have been 24 rubles. The longer trip fs cheaper! I looked at my ticket with some dismay, however, because of the early departure hours. "Don't worry," the guide said, "plane departure times are given in Moscow time. Local time is much later. Incidentally, I notice that according to your watch it is now 11:30. Actually, by Uzbekistan time it is about 2 p.m., so~you had better have lunch." The only explanation I was given for this strange state of affairs was that Tashkent time is like that.
Tip No . 5. Buy your plane tickets for your sidetrips after arriving in Tashkent. When leaving the USSR you are then able to convert into dollars (up to the amount of th2 dollars exchanged to buy the tickets) any rubles which y.ou acquire in the
dining-room, and you do acquire them, as I shall explain.
Very little from the past is left in Tashkent, and the tourist is able to see all points of interest in a short time. A small section of the old city remains and may be visitP.d. In it is a compound containing a mosque and a library of ancient Korans. But soon the low mud-brick houses and the narrow streets w ill all be gone, according to my guide, and modern buildings and streets will take their places. Large, rectangular apartment houses ar€ being built in the outskirts for the displaced population. Tourists find the new buildings uninspired and the old houses picturesque, individualistic, and redolent of a romantic pa; t, but only the inhabitants of the two types of housing can say which is the better.
A new hotel is being built-· eight storeys, if I remember correctly. There is some conjecture about how well it will withstand the earthquakes. which are of almost daily occurrence. Prefabricated buildings h ave been devised for Tashkent whi_ch are supposed to be able to withstand 10, or possibly 12, tremors.
Uzbek dress adds color to the city. The Uzbek men can be distinguished by their fo urcornered black fe lt caps embroidered w ith white designs. The women wear straight. full dresses decorated with the conventional Uzbek des ign, which l can describe only as broad stripes broken by jagged edges. The most common co lor combin ation is black and white. but.
m any dresses are in a variety of brigh t colors. I asked the guide to point out some ·K azaks (remembering the book KAZAK EXODUS) or Tajiks, but apparently we never h appened on any of these people.
Examples of Uzbek handwork can be see11 in a small , attractive museum.
In spite of t hese reminders of an Uzbek past , Tashkent today strikes the visitor as being a typical Russian city, with Russians predominating. Young Uzbeks h ave given up the Muslim religion of their ., forefathers, I was told.
I took two trips outside Tashkent and had glimpses of some collective farms, but my suggestions that I visit one or two of them bore no fruit . Possibly there would have been very little for a casual visitor to see.
Saturday morning I was off to Samarkand and Bokh ara and to the type of monuments I had come to visit. Much of the old city is left in both places, although in Samarkand, the guide told me with pride, 50 percent of t he people have been moved to n ew apar tmeYit houses, which turned out to be duplicates of the Tashkent apartment buildings.
Samarkand under Timur was made into a beautiful city and many buildings from his day still remain. The blue domes of his mosques, tombs, and religious ·schools m ake attractive spots of color and the tile work is often well preserved. In the outskirts is a group of almost intact tombs built by Timur for his wives and important officials. Closer in are the tremendous arches of Bibi Khanoun mosque and college, built in 1399 by Timur for his favorite wife. The Registan is in the center of the city. Blue tiles inlaid in the walls make interesting and colorful patterns. An elaborate inside entrance way has an unusual de-sign, w ith tigers predominating, and hence
SEPT EMBER 1965
is called Scher Dor i 3pelling according to my guide) .
An inscription on Timur's tomb. found in another part of the city, warns that if the tomb is disturbed. an earthquake will shake the world. Undaunted, a team of scientists decided some years ago to ascertain whether Timur was actually buried in the tomb . They fo und a skeleton w ith the rleformed limbs of the crippled Timur. Three days later Germanv attacked Russia, and who knows but what this was the earthquake which was foretold. commented my guide.
Both in Samarkand and Tashkent I traveled for a few miles on the old Silk Way (or Road) , routf' of the camel caravans which used to carry silk from the F ar East to Europe. Now only unromantic trucks. and an occasional taxi, are to be seen.
Sunday I was on my way to Bokhara and arrived in time to take care of most of the sightseeing during the morning. When T reached the hotel, wh ich does not hw e t oo happy a reputation. I was s'Urprised to find Henry and Clay sitting despondently on a bench outside the entrance. Since they had also left Tashkent Saturday morning,, except to make the sidetrip in reverse order-first Bokhara, then Samarkand - I knew that they should have been on their way to Samarkand. But it ~eemed that a great confusion had developed in Bokhara, involving not only the two brothers, who had not been m et by Intourist the previous day and had done no sightseeing so far, but other acquaintances from Tashkent, including a visiting American professor and his wife, a fri endly English woman who persisted in explaining that I worked for the Bri tish Council when she introduced m e to her friends, and others. All were having to spend an additional day in Bokhara for lack of space on the Samarkand plane. And so it happened that Henry and Clay were along on my private s i!!htseeing tour in Bokhara.
Tip No. 6. Do not schedule the SamarkandBokhara trip too closely. Allow some time fo r delays. It is very important to be back in Tashkent on the scheduled departure date.
Sunday is an excellent day to visit Bokhara because it is market day for the villagers, who come to town dressed in a variety of colorful costumes. A choice spot from which to view them is in the garden across from the old fortress. The bazaar is also interesting on Sunday, and near it are remains of mosques and religious schools from the old days. Of rather tantalizing interest is a decorated 203-foot tower from which state criminals were thrown until the 1870's.
Bokhara h as five pre-Genghis Khan buildings. The tomb of Ishmail Samany (again the guide's spelling) is particularly beautiful.
17
I asked about the famous Bokhara rugs, but the subject was treated as a joke.
The ret4rn to the comfortable rooms of the Tashkent Hotel was like a homecoming after two nights away. Even the dining-room, which I had come to regard as something of a battlefield, had new charm.
Russian food is good and Uzbek dishes, which I ordered with the guide's assistance, are tasty. Servings are large. The problem is to get the food in anything under three hours, if at all. In the tirst place, waitresses will not permit anyone to sit at an unoccupi ed t able so long as there is a free seat at an occupied table. The newcomer to the table becomes lost in the midst of people who have a head start of one or two hours and have developed certain priorities and techniques.
The best strategy, I discovered, is to locate and appropriate the tri-lingual menu, often found partly concealed among the water glasses, then to display it prominently with fingers pointing to one or two dishes. The waitresses will be suspicous for a while,
(Continued rn pa,~c 27)
Samarkand
18
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SEPTEM BER 1965 19
Newcomer's Tea
\ " .... A 11d 1\lfartlia Ratem1a11's gr.mp baked 4,000 rolls
for the Fo111·tli of]11ly"
Mrs. Oldtimer: Haven't found a house yet? (When are you going to pay back all those dinners and luncheons?)
Mrs. Newcomer: They're working on it. (That's a Quote)
Mrs. O.T .: And do you play bridge? (She looks nossible)
Mrs. N.C.: I love it but I'm not very good. (a) I didn't beat Goren last time we
played. (b) I've almost got the hang of the club
convention. <c) I play contract now.
Mrs. O.T .: You know we have a very active American Women's club here. (That was a subtle transition) .
Mrs. N.C. : Oh. I've heard of your wonderful work. (Don't panic-after a hardship post like Washington D.C. you owe yourself a vacation) .
Mrs. O.T .: And what are your interests? (Now to nail her.)
Mrs. N.C.: Silence. (a) There was PTA-and it 's behind mel
(b) Would it be safe to mention Fabian socialism?
(c) Well. I know better than to mention Cub Scouts!:
Mrs. O.T.: I mean the AWC has lots of activitie3-welfare. art, cooking, creative writing, English teaching-(Let's see her duck that one).
Mrs. N.C.: Everything sounds so fascinating I thought I'd wait to see what was just right for me. (Like reading Victorian novels)
Mrs. O.T.: Well. Delhi's the kind of place you can do just as much or as little as you want. (And you're not the latter kind of stinker -are you?)
Mrs. N.C.: I know I'm going to love doing all sorts of things here. (And I'd better get cracking or she'll volunteer me for the camel corps-if the AWC has an auxiliary)
Mrs. O.T. : It's been lovely talking to you. (Might put her on News Cirde-that's only an eighteen hour job.)
Mrs. N.C.: I've enjoyed it too. (Bird watching could be fun.)
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20
The News from Paris
Shci I Kapur, rhe .first Iudia11 reporter c11cr to be invited to atte11d the a11t1111111-wintcr Paris collcctio11 scuds 11s a fc 1v highlights .fi·o111 the 1965~66 s/1 owi11gs.
What's new? white, white and more
white, it replaces the classic little
black dress. St. Laurent gets
maximum effect when there's a con
trast of units like a Mondrian
painting-squares of black, red ,
chrome yellow on white jersey ... the
coat dress buttoned at one side for
a tunic look (Balmain) ... hem levels
unchanged, still varying from mid·
calf to mid-thigh . .. attention on
collars at Cardin-suits have short, bloused jackets, double breasted or assymetrically fastened ... capelets on snits and coats everywhere ... coats are A shaped, flared and wide, zerolined or lantern shape· often but· toned to the side .. ~ colors are deli· berately contrasted for shock value -forest green dress under an ochre coat (Cardin). an add gre·en tweed
suit under a mustard coat, an aubergine dress under a peach plaid coat
NEWS CIRC LE
(Venet) or a "make-up" pink coat
wilh a p<¥son green dr·ess (Patou) ...
evening coats of double faced woql
outdo furs-in jewe.J colors with
jewelled, matching buttons-floor
length (handsome· over sarees) ...
every where the geometric dres!j with
Y. H. V. X or cross shape·i units
-one can see the Indian girl follow
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cut in her modern kameez.
SEPTEMBER 1965
2 1
I
22
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NEWS CIRCLE
By Katherine Harris
If you are a recent arrival from the other side of the globe, you have no doubt been so preoccupied with straightening out night and day that little thought has been given to gardening seasons. Gardening in September, in Delhi, is similar to · early spring planting in the States. This is the time, not only to think about gardening, but to take positive action. It can be a satisfying year round hobLy in India, and this month is the ideal time to beg.in.
A first step might be to obtain a few Indian books. Three which we have found helpful are : "Beautiful Climbers of India" by B. P. Pal, "Beautiful Trees and Gardens" by M. S. Randawa, and "Seasonal Flowers" by Bhanu L. Desai. All may be obtained through the Indian Council of Agricultural Research at Krishi Bhawan.
Because for us gardening and bird watching go together, I must also mention "The Book of Indian Birds" by Salim Ali, usually available from book stores and newstands.
"Seasonal Flowers" presents gardening practices connected with many of the Indian short-season flowering plants. Part I discusses methods for raising seedlings, soil management, colour, and protection from diseases and insect pests. The second part gives flower descriptions with many coloured plates, and specific cultural practices applicable to individual species.
The other books are well illustrated in colour and should be helpful in identifying and selecting climbers and trees for your garden or terrace.
All three books give the scientific terminology which incidentally is better understood in this part of the world by the malis and nurserymen than are the common names.
You will find it enjoyable and useful to visit two or three of the better nurseries,-there are many in Delhi! Maybe you should take your m ali and of course the Sahib. And just between us, now at the outset is the time to settle for once and all your own perogative to move a pot or pinch a bud. You and your Sahib no doubt will have to wrestle mali for this right, but if you enjoy doing some of the gardening yourself, you must take a firm position from the beginning.
This month is not too late to plant certain of the climbers. You will have already noted that bougainvilleas abound in variety. They are very satisfactory for the roof garden, doing well when planted in large drums, and may be pruned and shaped in almost any fashion desired.
The climber Clerodendron splendens has performed very well for us. It grew rapidly and makes a handsome screen trained on bamboo lattice work. Not only are the beautiful crimson blossoms produced in great profu_sion during the cold months, but leaves stay handsome and green throughout the year.
This is the time to plant most annuals, though some should wait until October when it is a bit cooler. Scarcely anywhere will you see gardens with the riot of colour which we have here during the winter months.
SEPTEMBER 196 5
DELHI'S HISTORIC HIGHROADS (Conti1111ed ji-0111 page 13)
moved the capital to what he considered a more favo urable site, thus founding the city of Agra, but Delhi r emained the religious center of the sultanate and all three of the Lodi kings were buried here. Sikander's son was defeated by Babur, a sixth generation descendant of the Mongol Timur, and decendant also on his mother 's side of Ghengis Khan.
Thus began the rule of the Great Moghuls, one of the most brilliant dynasties in the history of the world . Numerous streets of Delhi are named for these monarchs. though none sings of Babur: the founder of the line. He rates as a g reat world conqueror and was a decidedly stronger personality t han his son Humayun whose name endures in Humay un Road and the tomb built for him after his death . However, Babur maintained court at Agra, and Delhi changed little during his reign.
The Moghul rule was interrupted for a short time when Humayun was deposed by Sher Shah, a former royal tutor who-like the Lodiswas of Afgh an origin. This highly in telligent and able administrator began the building of the Purana Qila (Old Citadel) . Today, Delhi's national stadium is-bounded on the north and south by Purana Qila and Sher Shah Roads, memorials to a man who himself planned and built a system of great roads bordered with fr uit trees, lined w ith comfortable caravanseries, and guarded by a police corps that made them safe for traveler s.
Sher Shah was killed in the sixth year of his reign and the throne was recovered by Humayun, whu attacked from Kabul and reentered Delhi on July 23, 1555. Humayun
23
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CONTACT :. MRS. PUSHPA TALWAR PHONE : 74481
The finest quality G 0 L D E N E N A M E L J E w E L L E R y Mughal Paintings• Precious Stones• Jade• Bronzes• Wood Carvings
BOU -TIQUE 20, Sunder Nagar Mar ket, NeN Delhi. Phone : 619066
PICTURE FRAMING
had once planned to build his own city in Delhi, but now he moved into the Purana Qila and died there less than a year later.
Akbar Road, a main thoroughtare running southwest from India Gate toward the Diplomatic Enclave is named for Humayun's son, a wise and l iberal monarch. Under the tolerant Akbar, intermarriage with Hindus became popula1:., His son J ehangir was half Hindu and his grandson Shah Jahan three-quarters Hindu through marriage with Rajput princesses. Thus was heightened a cultural synthesis of Hindu and Muslim influences which had been taking place fro. the time of Qutb-ud-din. But once again the court moved to Agra, leaving Delhi to languish among its decaying mosques, m ausoleums, and monuments.
Shahjahan Hoad, also south ot India Gate, is named for Akbar's
JEWELLERY REPAIRING
grandson, the greatest of the Moghul builders. The Taj Mahal, the tomb he built for his beloved queen at Agra, has ever since inspired the wonder of the world. Shahjahan returned the capital to Delhi and built the Red Fort as the focal point of a new city called Shahjahan abad. It is Shahjahanabad that is now known as "Old Delhi" to distinguish it from the newest city of Delhi wherein many of the much older monuments lie.
Chandn i Chowk, or Moonlight Square, was Shahjahan's imperial plaza leading into the main gate of the Red Fort . . It is now the central shopping district of Old Delhi. Some ;,ay the name refers to the silversmiths who have plied their trade there, but we prefer ' the more romantic allusion, picturing Shahjahan and his court riding forth into the moonlight on their caparisoned
(Co11ti1111ed 011 page 28)
BHARANY'S I 4, Sunder Nagar M arker
NEW DELHI - T t
Great Eastern Hotel , Calcutta
for a11 tiques and jewellery
Spences Hotel, Calcutra Inside Grand H otel, Calcutta
24
Cooking in a strange country always demands many adaptations. It may seem quite difficult to feed a family which wants the same old home-style diet. Some items have to be dropped, because they're simply not available, and the offering begins to seem pretty limited. Morale may suffer-good eating and a feeling of well-being are so intermingled. But don't despair-local specialties can give a real filip to your table fare. Most foreign families in Delhi hire cooks to take care of this aspect of life, but while some cooks are like a dream come true, some, alas, are not. Still, most are ready and willing to learn new things, and if you know what to ask for you can greatly increase your family's enjoyment. So keep your eyes and ears open, and when you are past the first flurries ~nd pressures of adjustment, start looking around. In this column today we'd like to do some general talking about food selection and preparation.
Where to buy things? Most colonies have their own markets, but some are expensive and limited. You may do supplemental shopping in the Gole Market (especially good for fish, poultry, and meat) , Irwin Road (fruits and vegetables), and Connaught P lace (specialty foods, meats and meat products) . The biggest, cheapest produce market is
By Pepita Km~fii11a11
in Suzbimandi, but that involves a big expedition. The Paharganj and Daryaganj are also rewarding. If you live out along the Mehrauli Road, you have a splendid market area. Be sure your basic commodities and spices are bought at a reputable dealer's for in this trade there is still a great deal of flagrant adulteration going on. Lead chrom:ite and sawdust in your turmeric, for example, may be avoided by patronizing Cottage Industries. Just be careful of those little newspaper spills that your cook runs out to buy from some small back alley vendor.
Milk products from any dairy should be boiled, even cream for whipping. The locally available paneer, a cousin to cream cheese, is used here, when cubed and fried, in a common cheese-pea dish called p:ineer muttur. For western palates it may be mixed with a little milk and used as a ricotta (Italian cottage cheese) substitute in Lasagne (a casserole of layered broad boiled noodles, cheese, and spaghetti sauce, all baked together at least half an hour). Another dairy product, curds, yoghurt, dahi-whatever you tall it -is a delightful addition to the diet . Here again, though, be careful. Most Indian families prefer to eat what they make at home or what they get within a relatively small circle of associates. Many foreigners are
NEWS CIR CLE'
lulled into a false sense of security by the thought that the fermentation process kills all undesirable elements-not so. Boil your milk first , and if you use a starter, throw away most of the first batch, keeping only enough to start the next one. It's pretty hard to get a good flavor without starter (it's called Jahg on the market) , but you can try, using a little lemon juice or vinegar or just relying on the passage of time.
Be a li ttle adventuresome about the food that finds its way to your table. Most of us have found that our cooks have a very much stereotyped notion of what we wi ll accept in the way of "western" vegetables, so a limited number of items will
SHA\AllS
Collection of highest
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STOLES
6-A , CONNAUGHT PLACE, NEW DELHI -I
THE BEST IN PORK & COLD STORES CATCH ALL THE GOODIES
i 3/8, jorbagh Mkr.
Tck . 61 roo8
DHOOMI MAL'S GALLERY PAINTINGS * BATIKS * ART BOOKS * AR TISTS MATERIAL *
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· 8-A, Connaught Place N ew Delhi Telephone : 4 7 4 3 3
SEPTEMBER 1965
MARKET FARE Co11ti1111rd
appear on our tables. Meal after meal in dreary repetition : peas, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, potatoes. If you try asking for other vegetables, it may not do much good; you will be on stronger territory if you know what else is available. Go to your local market and find out. Most .storekeepers are pleased indeed to identify some of the unfamiliar produce, and your family will be delighted at the augmentation of fare.
A small green vegetable called
"
tinda, looking something like a green
..
. ': / ...-. • ' apple, is delicious until overgrown, when the seeds get unpleasantly hard. Until then, it can be cooked whole, quartered, or sliced, and with or without sauce. It is very versatile. Several succulent vegetables of the zucchini type, permal and tori among them, may be cooked as you would a zucchini itself. Tomato enhances these, but is not a necessity. A small root called aRbi (back flap R, that) , is a delightful surprise when peeled, cut, and sauteed or gently boiled. You may see at the back of the stall a pile of large, rough, brown hemispherical roots; that's jimmikund, the poor man's meat; sliced or cubed. it's a riew eating sensation. Prepare it alone, or tuck it into mixtures a~
you might add an onion, a mushroom, or a cubed carrot. Experiment
- with these vegetables yourself on your cook's day off. You will find
Dine at
WENGER'S SUPERB
CHINESE
CUISINE
A-Block, Connaught Place
Fully Air-Co11ditiCl 11rd
that they adapt very well indeed to western cuisine. By the way, try, and try again to keep your vegetables from being overcooked. Those poor little peas that are cooked half an hour in a quart of water which is then tossed down the sink are certainly not going to give you many vitamins.
Tomatoes and cucumbers will be abundant but remember the rules of safety on food to be eaten raw : wash with soap, rinse, and soak 20 minutes in a solution of iodine (ask for Lugol's solution at the Chemist's and use about 8 drops per quart of water). If only boiled water touches the food in these later stages, you are >;.>laying extra safe. The preparation and eating of raw foods is always a hotly debated topic in underdeveloped parts of the world. Not only growing conditions must be considered, but also the food's trip from farm to table; lots can happen along the way, but consistent, careful kitchen work takes care of most of these. If you stick to eating only those raw vegetables that can be peeled (remer. T that a dip in boiling water helps. to loosen a tomato skin), you will be ab!e to satisfy your craving for cool
25
freshness and still, according to authorities, stay on the safe side. To add variety to your salads, you can add marinated cooked, chilled vegetables.
Why so cautious? Well, it seems to pay. India offers many possibiliti es in the way of food borne diseases. It is quite true, to be sure, that many of the digestive difficulties which beset newcomers are due to vulnerability brought on by the emotional upheavals of packing and transferring to a new post, to the prevalence of spices in Indian cooking, and to the newcomers' ready susceptibility to the minor indigenous ailments found in any new area. Nevertheless, time, tranquility, and experience will definitely not bring immunity from all woes. Remember, there are some infections to which you never build up immunity, and it is foolish to ignore the fact that you have a much greater chance of encountering these here than at home. Don't panic. Look at the healthy old timers all around you! Follow their techniques. Be sensible in your eating and drinking habits at home and outside, and you can have wonderful gastronomic experiences.
" [ say I" lie// with Phyllis McGi11/ey a11d Belly Friedm1"
26
DECORAMA 65 Stop-· over at
NEWS CIRCLE
.:-: on your way to LONDC at no extra fare I See Mose ' . . . bewitching city of mui , art and ballet ... magnific
The Practical Troman's Guide
To Domestic Elegance Through
r~oscow ... Rus sian architect1
. . . the Kremlin , Red Squ< a 'd ifferent' capi
V ia Moscow is the quickest v to London from Del
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First This Month of a Series of
Exhibitions For Artistic Living
In An Austere Year
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i l
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OPTOMETRISTS £ wtence cf Ji.~{) (Jf,c/~ !Jf,-_,a~ ~t/
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For Is your ,roblem ........... . LET US BE YOU11 JEWELLEll
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N-9, Connaught Circu1. NEW DEi.HI
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Orle..t•I'• Fer Qu•lity And Tone
cle•nin1 of your clother er c•rpets ~
Seep in oc NOVEX wltere enry 1erYice I•
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NOVEX PRIVATE LTD. DRY CLEANERS, DYERS • CARPET CLEANERS
Coanaurht Place, New Delhi Plaone: 41461
DASS JEWELLERS 9 - A, Sunder Nagar Market
[ Offi . : 6 1 9 I 4 8
Tele Res. : % 6 4 4 8 6
For Croekerv. Cutlery , Glassware, E.P. N .S. Ware, Household Electrical Appliancet
Always Remember
Selection Crockery House 1'4·A , Khan Market , New Oelh i-1 1
Telephone : 6 19322 (Crockery O n Hire A Speciality)
e BUILDING CONSTRUCTION e R.C .C . CO~STRUCTION e METAL GRILL MANUFACTURERS e SANITARY ENGil'lEERING e FURNISHING e INTERIOR DECORATION
Con•ult : ORIENTAL BUILDING & FURNISHING COM~ANY (PVT.) LTD. M Block : Connaught Circu : New Delhi : Phones : 41202, 44Sl5 & 47944
.
I ,
SEPTEMBER 1965
A VISIT TO TIMUR'S LAND
( Co11ti1111ed fro 111 page 17)
but eventually one of them will decide that she should be able to take the order without having to str;uggle with the English tongue and will make a try. Several times when I had finally nabbed a waitress in this manner, I attempted to order a complete meal in one field-day of pointing. The trouble was that several of the dishes would usually not be available. The waitress would simply omit those courses and bring the remainder of the order, upsetting the planning. In this way once, when I had r esolved to have a full dinner and, had ordered with abandon, I found myself being served soup and ice cream simultaneously, and that was all!
Since the coupons for meals are generous, considering prices (3.30 rubles for dinner, for example), a tourh_:t finds it practically impossible to induce a waitress to serve him with enough food to take up his entL:e meal ticket. His dinner may come to only 2.10 rubles, whereupon the Uzbekistan waitress will give him 1.20 rubles in change. In Moscow and Leningrad, which I visited in the summer of 1964, not more than 40 to 70 kopeks would be given as change even though a larger amount might be due. The problem then is to find something to buy with the rubks, which have no value outside the USSR I was for tunate. Since I had exchanged money afte :c arriving in Tashkent, I w as able to convert my rubles t'.l dollars on leav ing_
But I li' Russian wai tresses. They are indi-v idualis tic and have stren_c:;th of character . They
Latest Model
27
obviously see no reason w hy anyone should eat food worth 3.30 rubles at one sitting, and they r efuse to wear themselves out catering to conspicuous consumption. Furthermore, they are impartial. They keep Russians as well as foreigners waiting impatiently for their food.
Unused meal coupons left from times of total failure may be turned in only for food, which in Tashkent, where there is no caviar, m eans chocolate bars. I could never get this point across to Henry and Clay, who often helped make up the company at my table. They were foreverlastingly skimping on their eating, trying to make one breakfast coupon, for example, cover two dinners-the coupons do not necessarily have to be used at the meals designated on them-with the expectation that they wer e goin g to receive dollars in return for the unused 'couponsand also for their excess rubles, for that matter. I , as a veteran of a former trip to the USSR, felt that I could speak with authority and said over and over, "F ood coupons can be used only for food; r ubles can be converted into dollars only if you , have exchanged dollars after entering the USSR." But the brothers persisted in their economies. The morning that we left for Kabul, Clay admitted that the bottom of h is flight bag was filled with chocolate bars.
Tip No. 6. Don't save on your food coupons unless ·uou are fond of chocolate bars.
Final t :p. A trip t\) Kabul, Tashkent , Samarkand , and Bokhara is well worth the effort, but interesting traveling companions cannot be guarant <? ed.
BEST JN KITCHEN WARES
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AIR CONDITIONERS LATEST IN
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57, Khan Market, New Delhi Tel : 619231
MUMICK - OPTICIANS J. S. MUM!CK
F.N.A 0, (Eng .)
G. S. MUMICK
D. R.Opt . (Luck .)
Eye Sight Tested, Frames, Lemes, Repairs and Sun Glasses
12-B, Khan Market, New Delhi-I I Phone : 618913
& REFRIGERATORS Available on HI R E
Specialist in Repair Work of all TYPES OF SE A.LED UNITS
Call - 6 I 8721
MODERN AIR CONDITIONING CO 34, Sundar Nagar Market,
NEW DELHI-I I
••iM'~n•1:11,1:r11:,113i11n:1;11m1:1£$W i1ljll[1il!iJ,fltM!ilillil1llliJllii131 tlllJj1*,!11 jl I I I M:I il~l1tl:1il I WUlililiM Ii
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28 • B, Connaught Place, New Delhi
Phone : 4 7 3 2 3
A-4/l CONNAU&HT PLACE CENTRAL RHl6 NEW DELHI PHONES 42620 42628
28
DELHI HIGHROAD
(Co11tin 11ed from page 23)
elephants, accompanied by camelmounted troops. At the opposite end of the plaza lies F atehpuri Mosque, fo unded by one of the emperor's wives.
Aurangzeb Road, another of the wide boulevards south of the Mall, is n am ed for the sixth and last of the Great Moghuls. Aurangzeb forced his way to t he t hrone and sent his father Shahjahan a prisoner to Agra to wait the end of his days there. Though an able administrator, Aurangze"b was a r eligious fanat ic. He reversed the liber al policies of his father and great-grandfather, retur ning to the persecut ions of earlier sultans in a vain at tempt to mold a purely Islamic society. The result was a general tmdermining of the pow .:.nd influence of an empire that had once seemed dest ined to unite all the subcontinent. During the period of decay that followed, a succession of attackers, including the rulers of P ersia and Afghanistan as well as r ebellious Hindu leaders, entered and plundered Delhi, though non e claimed thP. throne fo r himself.
In 1803 the British entered Delhi and were received in the Red F ort by Alam II, a blind old Shah. A P ax Britannica had begun to spread itself over the whole of the subcont inent, extending far ther than all the former empires, and a new page in h istory was t urned. The sultanate survived in Delhi, and the shahs were permit ted to r etain their palace, their titles, and a pension until after a brief mutiny in 1857 when most of t he Br it ish in Delhi were massacred. Then the aged Shah Bahadur was deposed and sent into exile in Rangoon.
Delhi was once more a provincial town of small political stature, but the British continued to recognise its historical importance. It w as in Delhi that Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877, and in 1911 George V came to Delhi
NEWS C IRCLE
TO BUY THE BEST IN HANDICRAFTS, BUILDERS BRASS HAR D WAR ES AND EXCLUSIVE ARTICLES TO BEAUTIFY YOUR HOME
PLEASE VISIT O UR SHOW ROOM
NARANG & co. 17, Sunder Nagar Market, N ew D elhi
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Cables: Coperco, New Delhi Phones: 618477, 619066
We follow your specificat io ns, matching your pr esent furniture in seasoned
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KUMAR FURNISHERS 878 East Park Road , Karol Bagh , New Delh i Phc ne : 52849
0 COMMERCIAL b:1 " p· Po " ~ BUY RUPEE TRAVELLERS ' ~ ig E-4 CHECKS AND SEE INDIA z . FR ESH P ORK, H AM, BACON,
WITHOUT WORRY ~ SAU SAGES ETC: - WE ALSO CASH & ISSUE, ~ z Dollar & Sterling Tnvellers' ~ AND POULT RY PRODUCTS
!::::> CHECKS 0 9, Jorbagh Market Tel. : 61 1723
For All Your Tra vel requirements please con/act :
Oriental Travels Pvt. Ltd. l.A.T.A. Approved Agents (Associates all over the wotld)
1\1'.a:cina Hotel, Con. Circus, N- Delhi. Phones : 18744. '44654, 4220 1/50 (6 l ine ~)
Kwality 1cE cREAMs
are manu fac tmcd under strict h ygienic conditions with M0clcrn Machinery and every Batch is laboratory tested.
KWALITY ICE CREAM COMPANY Regal Building, N"w Delhi
For Line Voltage Correctors, Transformers, GE Bulbs
and all kinds of your requirements Contact :
ELEKTRONS 16-B, Khan Market, New Delhi-II
Phone . 6 l <) 2 3 2
Fo r A1:tiq11c J\1111sl111 / Jrwt'lry
Kherati Lall & Sons J EW ELLER S AND ART D EALER S
80, JAN PATH, NEW DELHI
Precious Stones and Star Sapphires .
SE PT EM BER 1%5
RAINA'S HAIR FASHION
STLlDIO ASHOKA HOTEL
Phone : 70311 /159
THE DJSCRIMINATJNG PEOPLE
OF THE TOWN TODAY T Ar K OF LAFFANS ... WHY ?
Co mfo rt is tailored int o C\-cry inch of LAFFANS s11i1 s ..
AT
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PIONEER IN MEN'S TAILORING
O pp. Scindio House,
N - TT , Connaught Circus, N ew D el hi .
Phone : 4 404 4
THE ORIENTAL FRUITS HART 23 E Connaught Place, New Delhi
( Opp. Rly : Booking Office)
HIGH CLASS FRESH FRUITS " Nun PROVISION MERCHANTS
FREE DELIVERY Phone : 48924
Color Films for Still Cameras now avai lable SUPPLIES LIMITED
!Jik~oon .%t:ako 58 , Janpath , New Del!ti Phone : 47861
Before furnishing yo u1· house pay a visit to
Kailas Carpet Co. 11-F Connaught Place , New Delhi
For CHOICEST CARPETS ,
Fo r the Latest Se lect ion in Books
Faqir Chand & Sons rs/A. Khan Morkct , New Delhi
Ph one 618810
to be crowned as Emperor. Coronation Road, north of Old Delhi, marks the area where th~ Coronation Durbar was held.
It was on this occasion that George V announced that Delh i would become the residence of the British Viceroy, and a new city would be built here to serve as an admi nistrative center for the entire country.
Lord Hardinge (Hardinge Bridge) was the viceroy who chose the site for the new city. Edward Lutyens, architect of New Delhi, who designed the great government buildings, is not honored with a road name. In a famous quarrel with Lady Hardinge, who resented his ignoring her orders in planning the Viceroy's palace (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) , he wrote contritely that he would wash her feet in his tears and wipe them with his hair. Since he was nearly bald, he added, '·It'. true I haven 't rnu c~1 hair, but then your feet arc so small." Such a gallant gentlemen would hardly rue the fact that a street in New Delhi is named for Lady Hardinge.
Numerous other Viceroys are remembered in the street names of New Delhl. among them Chelmsford, Irwin, Willingdon, Dalhousie, Curzon. Not all resided here, since it was 1931 before building was sufficiently complete for Delhi to be proclaimed the new capital. Lord Curzon was responsible for restoring the Red Fort and encouraged the preservation of Indian antiquities in general. Dalhousie, a Scotsman, was one of the most able of the governor-generals. Connaught P lace and Connaught Circus, on the other hand, commemorate a person of little importance to India. The Duke of Connaught, grandson of Queen Victoria, attended the dedication o[ the New City of Delhi as
29
official representative of t he British Crown.
It is a tribute to the cordial relations between Independent India and her former ru lers that so many British place names have survived. George V in his coronation robes still gazes through Indi a Gate, down the noble Rajpath (formerly Kingsway) towards the impressive monuments to Bri tain's latterday li beralism and the new government o[ India which followed what must be history's most gracious transfer of power.
In post-independence India, some names, of course, have been changed to suit the new era. Queensway has been changed to Jan path, or People's Way, and a number of street names now honor the heroes of the Independence Movement. Among them are Moti lal Nehru, father of the first Prime Minister and a staunch supporter of Gandhi ; Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first president of India; Sardar Patel, right hand of Gandhi and Home Minister in Nehru's first cabinet; Bal Gangadhar Tilak, sometimes called t he father 9f Nationalism because his commentary on the Bhagabad Gita, -ndvocahng action as the fulfillment of l ife, gave impetus to the nationalist movement; . Maulana Azad, the first Minister of Education; and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai (Rafi Marg), Food Minister.
Finally, we have to ndmit that the significance of a number of names has escaped us. Some Of these are important thoroughfares. Ratendone Road, Bhagwandas Road (though the name means Servant of God. we suspect it refers to some person) , Pandara Road, Barakhamba Road, and the street that separat~s New from Old Delhi, Asaf Ali Road. Who was Asaf Ali?
POON AIRE ENGINEERING COMPANY REFRIGERATION AND AIRCONDITIONING CONTRACTORS
ARE MOVING TO M-68 GREATER KAILASH MARKET WHERE MODERN FACILITIES FOR REPAIR S TO AIRCONDITIONING AND REFRIGERATION EQUIPMENT ARE EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE BY THE
MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER, J965
•
•
30
In
memorz am
- To Sorel Freymann -
Driving home ioday I saw a litt le girl -She must have been brown, four or five maybe, Other t hings I remember much better, The saucy tilt of head, the eyes, laughing. So much elan to dauntlessly survey, The juggernaut brushing, one hair's-breadth away. I feared- not she-nor I for her alone, My fear was for my own , And all t he lit tle girls who walk, Along some road, somewhere, Wreathed in their stars; and but a moment tarry Nor 'ere r eturn, Except in many a heart along the way.
NEWS CIR CLE
To Christopher Wilder
"Thresher" was lost,-the news came in , harsh, Chattering on teletypes, breaking in by radi o, TV. Yes, true. A big hunk of metal , sunk . Bad for tune; we would build another. But then I thought , a boy 18 or 19 Is such a few years different from One 14 or 16. How deep she went, so cold and dark, in the depths, Where is the sunrise there, t he gleam of light. For him to see, or me; what solace? So -fine he stood ; tall, kind, a bit shy, So ready. Oh so very ready! Where is some balm? No, not on earth Or in the universe. Perhaps with God -
SEPTEMBER 1965
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While you're there 11isit the LAKME BOUTIQUE
54, Hanuman Road, Off Parliament Street, New Delhi 1 .
IJCM Tome ls
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31
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32
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R egd. No . D- n 28
Edited and published nine times a year, from September through May, by Mrs. Albert Perrelli, US National (C-r Defence Colony, New Delhi) for American Women's Club of Delhi and printed at The Statesman Press, Connaught Circus, New Dclht.