The debatable subjects (Re: [Reader-list] third posting)

[Jeebesh Bagchi]

That is not such a critical problem.

The first line of posting can say, it is an Ind.Fellow posting.

My only contention is that these postings are being archived and  
subject headers will help.

best
j

On 29-Mar-06, at 3:28 PM, rajesh mehar wrote:

> On the other hand, on a high-volume list like this
> one, it helps people like me know that a particular
> mail is part of the I-Fellow postings rather than
> general Reader List traffic.
>
> So, just an interesting (but oten cryptic?) subject
> that does not mention the I-Fellowship in any way
> makes it easier for one to miss the postings. Postings
> are more noteworthy than other Reader List mails for
> some of us.
>
> Or is it just me?
>
> --Rajesh
>
> --- Jeebesh Bagchi <jeebesh at sarai.net> wrote:
>
>
>> In this list archive there will be fifty postings by
>> the name "third
>> posting" or "second posting".....that is not very
>> intelligent way of
>> getting people to read.....
>>
>> comrades..please post with an nice subject
>> header....
>>
>> On 28-Mar-06, at 3:54 PM, Farhana Ibrahim wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Apologies for this delay � I hope to become more
>>>
>> regular at these
>>
>>> postings once I stop traveling around in Kachchh
>>>
>> and return to some
>>
>>> archival research in Delhi and Mumbai.
>>>
>>> I still am on my search for some clues about the
>>>
>> lives of the
>>
>>> Kachchhi merchants who were once based in Kachchh
>>>
>> and have now
>>
>>> moved out in all kinds of directions. After Jakhau
>>>
>> (I discussed it
>>
>>> in my last posting), I moved to Bhadresar, another
>>>
>> old port of
>>
>>> Kachchh, close to the contemporary port of Mundra.
>>>
>> Mundra is
>>
>>> becoming highly mechanized � it has been taken
>>>
>> over by the Adanis �
>>
>>> and is increasingly the new face of industrialized
>>>
>> Gujarat. On the
>>
>>> other hand, Bhadresar is now little more than an
>>>
>> old fishing
>>
>>> village. Once a shallow-water port known as
>>>
>> Bhadravati Nagari and
>>
>>> then Bhadresar, it was home to large shipping
>>>
>> magnates of the
>>
>>> region. In the old part of town, and old temple
>>>
>> and dargah sit side
>>
>>> by side, frequented by the fishermen and what is
>>>
>> left of the once-
>>
>>> thriving port town. It is almost as though the
>>>
>> post-earthquake
>>
>>> reconstruction drive in Kachchh has passed by this
>>>
>> area. Old houses
>>
>>> stand disheveled and dilapidated, but not as a
>>>
>> result of the 2001
>>
>>> earthquake. These structures fell apart over time
>>>
>> and have not been
>>
>>> rescued from decay by the state government.
>>>
>> Recently a Japanese
>>
>>> heritage conservation project has identified a
>>>
>> cluster of old
>>
>>> buildings to restore and maintain. There has been
>>>
>> much controversy
>>
>>> among local level leaders over the proposed plan
>>>
>> to restore an old
>>
>>> Ismaili Muslim Jama�at Khana. The Jain temple
>>>
>> should be restored
>>
>>> first said the panchayat, then the Jama�at
>>>
> khana.
>
>> These divisions
>>
>>> are relatively recent in Kachchh. As far as the
>>>
>> villagers are
>>
>>> concerned, they seem to be relatively unconcerned
>>>
>> about these
>>
>>> fractious debates. As I walked into the village
>>>
>> with my research
>>
>>> assistant, the call to prayer was sounding from a
>>>
>> nearby mosque. He
>>
>>> went in to pray, while I sat outside for him,
>>>
>> admiring the frescoes
>>
>>> and sculptures on the imposing house just across
>>>
>> the mosque on the
>>
>>> narrow street. Soon I was engaged in conversation
>>>
>> with an elderly
>>
>>> man smoking a bidi next to me. The Khimji family
>>>
>> house that we were
>>
>>> admiring so ardently was once a towering structure
>>>
>> of three
>>
>>> storeys. The family lived here while they traded
>>>
>> in Muscat and
>>
>>> Zanzibar, dealing in spices and silks. As they
>>>
>> prospered, they
>>
>>> decided to add storeys onto their single floor.
>>>
>> Painters were
>>
>>> invited from all over Kachchh to decorate the
>>>
>> facades and sculptors
>>
>>> who were employed by the royal families of the
>>>
>> area were secretly
>>
>>> spirited away to embellish the house. They were
>>>
>> warned not to go
>>
>>> higher than the dome of the mosque, and once they
>>>
>> did, they began
>>
>>> to lose their business. Then the old man fell and
>>>
>> broke his leg.
>>
>>> The upper storeys have never been inhabited again,
>>>
>> I was told. All
>>
>>> the villagers know this tale, and believe it
>>>
>> carries a powerful
>>
>>> portent for the future; they bow their heads in
>>>
>> respect as they
>>
>>> pass the mosque, regardless of their religious or
>>>
>> sectarian
>>
>>> allegiances.
>>> _________________________________________
>>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and
>>>
>> the city.
>>
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>>
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>>>
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>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _________________________________________
>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and
>> the city.
>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to
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>>
>
>
> Gonna make a lot o'money, gonna quit this crazy scene.
>
>
>
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