Bleeding Rainbow
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed dreams: Chapter Ten
Palash Biswas
http://www.troubled
Rainbow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rainbows are optical and meteorological phenomena that cause a
spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines onto
droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. They take the form of
a multicoloured arc, with red on the outer part of the arch and
violet on the inner section of the arch. More rarely, a secondary
rainbow is seen, which is a second, fainter arc, outside the primary
arc, with colours in the opposite order, that is, with violet on the
outside and red on the inside.
A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours. Traditionally,
however, the sequence is quantised. The most commonly cited and
remembered sequence, in English, is Newton's sevenfold red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. "Roy G. Biv" and "Richard Of
York Gave Battle In Vain" are popular mnemonics.
Rainbows can be caused by other forms of water than rain, including
mist, spray, dew, fog, and ice. Moreover, rainbows can have shapes
other than a bow (arc), including stripes, circles, or even flames.
(See circumhorizontal arc).
Rainbows can be observed whenever there are water drops in the air
and sunlight shining from behind a person at a low altitude angle (on
the ground). The most spectacular rainbow displays happen when half
of the sky is still dark with draining clouds and the observer is at
a spot with clear sky in the direction of the Sun. The result is a
luminous rainbow that contrasts with the darkened background.
The rainbow effect is also commonly seen near waterfalls or
fountains. Rainbow fringes can sometimes be seen at the edges of
backlit clouds[1] and as vertical bands in distant rain or virga. The
effect can also be artificially created by dispersing water droplets
into the air during a sunny day. Rarely, a moonbow, lunar rainbow or
night-time rainbow, can be seen on strongly moonlit nights. As human
visual perception for colour is poor in low light, moonbows are often
perceived to be white.[1]
You can create your own rainbow by facing 180 degrees from the sun
and spraying mist from a garden hose in front of you in a circular
motion, outlining a 360 degree "rainbow".
It is difficult to photograph the complete arc of a rainbow, as this
would require an angle of view of 84°. For a 35 mm camera, a lens
with a focal length of 19 mm or less would be required, whilst most
photographers are only likely to have a 28 mm wide-angle lens. From
an aeroplane, one has the opportunity to see the whole circle of the
rainbow, with the plane's shadow in the centre. This phenomenon can
be confused with the glory, but a glory is usually much smaller,
covering only 5°–20°.
When I Look At The Rainbow
Lord when I look at the Rainbow you have placed in sky so
blue, it reminds me that all your promises are true
Your Rainbow reminds me that those who believe on you
are few, yet you have called us your little Ewe
Lord when I look at the Rainbow I see it's hue, it reminds
me that your love for us true
Your Rainbow in sky so blue, reminds me to keep praying
through
Lord when I look at the Rainbow it reminds me of your
promise to all of your creatures some of whom are of
different features
Your Rainbow and it's many colors reminds me that it
represents some whom are called colored
Lord when I look at your Rainbow and see how it's colors
are bright, it reminds me to do what is right
Your Rainbow I have never seen at night, this reminds me
to stay in the light
Lord when I look at your Rainbow it reminds me of your grief
because of our unbelief
Your Rainbow have no pot of gold, but your wonderful story
of love it has told
Lord when I Look at your Rainbow it reminds that you
promised to never again destroy the World with a flood
Your Rainbow to me is a sign of your love it represents
your Son's life Blood
Vincent G. Mead
And yet another dream......
Feel like dancing under a rainbow, feel like singing happy
songs, but my rainbow, no my rainbow, wont shine for me.
Feel like going to the ocean, building castle in the sand..
but my rainbow, my rainbow, wont shine for me.
,
DAVID GERARDINO
Rainbow
When I first came to the city
the rainbow paint the sky
It's in a little bus station
where I heard the rainbow song
a beautiful mother singing to her little three sons
And then rainbow shows day after day
with God telling me everything's gonna be so right
Oh, beautiful rainbow, beautiful sign
just letting people feel right
It is in this rainbow season
that love fills friends' hearts
some to express, some to hide
some to broadcast, some are shy
With the rainbow in the sky
You shouldn't hide and you shouldn't be shy
Nobody's gonna laugh at your lovely lines
Oh, beautiful rainbow, beautiful sign
Forever having her by my side
Xin Wang
Rainbow
I raised the elbow
I have seen the rainbow
It is the celebration of sky
My heart vibrates with joy
Rainbow happens on special moment
Busy life misses it in the speed movement
Waiting for rainbow,
In the raindrops Meadow,
Sky is not showing grace
Rainbow is not in trace
Rainbow with seven colors,
Appears to my beloved,
stays somewhere,
melts in the infinite sky!
Heart felts it's gay
Rainbow is not mirage
It leaves image in my soul!
Mula Veereswara Rao
Rainbows bleed!
Just you should have the vision. Not only the Vision, you must have a
heart to feel and a mind to understand.
For us, the persecuted Untouchables, black people and all
underclasses, the refugees, the immigrants and the victims of
Holocaust, Partition, Natural and man made hazards, Wars and civil
Wars , the rainbows have to bleed!
We, the defenders of Nature and Natural resources, have to be killed
and uprooted. this has been the Ultimate agenda of the Ruling Class
and Hegemony all the time and Everywhere!
It happened in Americas while Columbus invented the new world for
Colonisation. It was repeated as Vasco De Gama reached India. It was
the same story in Africa, Australia and Neuzealand.
Europe experienced the Bloodshed with the introduction of industrial
revolution followed by Hundred Years War, the CRUSED!
A Tale of Two Cities written by Charles Dickens and Les Miserables by
Victor Hugo consists of enough Bloodshed.
USA also had to cross the rivers of blood in the struggle of
Independence! USA had to suffer the tragedies involving civil War.
Rise of Barrack Obama is the climax of all those tragedies.
China and Korea suffered Japanese Aggression!
Russia faced Napoleon and thus, Leo Tolstoy wrote the classic, War
and Peace! USSR was born in bloodshed. USSR was the ultimate demise
in Bloodshed.
Vietnam bore the burn of War as Hiroshima and Nagasaki witnessed
first atomic Disaster heralding an Age of Troubled galaxy!
We witness Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Palestine and the middle
east have never seen any Rainbow without the rain of Blood!
Thus, the Rainbows are bleeding for us worldwide. We bear the
heritage and legacy of Holocaust as the War criminals consist of the
Galaxy ruling Class!
Memories of Another Day continue and continue!
I have to live with so many families losing dearest and nearest ones
in partition. Families had its members stranded in East Pakistan.
Sometimes the Old Men and Helpless ladies would come to me and
request to write a Post card for them addressed somewhere in East
Bengal.
I learnt this with personal tragedies.
In 1960, my father Pulin Babu organised an all India Refugee
Conference in Dineshpur. Invitees included SM Bannerjee, MP kanpur,
Renuka chakrabarti and Samar Mukherjee , MPs from West Bengal and
other dignitaries. Some posters printed for the event were stocked on
the partition wall in our Uttar Gahr, the North House. I found them
later. i don`t remember anything particular about that conference.
Nainital based Bengali Refugees demonstrated in Rudrapur in 1956
under the banner of Terai Udvastu committee. Pulin Babu was the
general secretary. Radhakanta Roy, a Paundra Kshatriya from Khulna
and resettled in Sunderpur Refugee colony in Dineshpur Area had been
the President. Haripada Biswas was another prominent leader who
hailed from Khulna and was resettled in Laxmipur Colony. Kumud Ranjan
Mallick from Panchananpur, Shadanand Shikdar from Khanpur, Prafulla
saha from Udainagar, kalipada Mandal from Kalinagar, Haren Roy from
Chandan Nagar, Haren Sarkar from Makrand pur, Basudeb Mandal from
Pipulia, Phuljhuri Mandal from Chandayan, Sukhlal Mandal from Dinesh
Pur, Shishubar Roy from Vijaya Nagar, Meghnad Roy from Shibpur,
Birinchi Pada Mandal from Durgapur, Deben Biswas from Amrita Nagar,
Prafulla Manjhi from Haridaspur, Harimohan from Anand Khera were the
prominent leaders of the Bengali refugees at that time.
I remember well that all the Bengali MPs and MLAs skipped Dinseh Pur
and Shaktifarm with refugee colonies countrywide. Only in seventies,
while CPIM launched Marichjhanpi Movement, leaders from West Bengal
visited Dandakaranya. Uttaranchal saw the West Bengal based comrades
only after the death of my Father. In 2001, Newly Uttaranchal BJP
Government led by Nityanand Swami, made domicile certificates
compulsory for jobs in the state. Bengalies were denied the domicile
certificates. All the Bengali Refugees settled in Terai were branded
as Bangladeshi. The Bengalies and the Sikhs settled in Terai in the
same time period in early fifties and they were responsible for
deforestation and cultivation in Terai. But the Sikhs were never
questioned. The Bengalies launched an agitation once again after
1956. this time, they had to defend their citizenship. All
communities residing in Terai, the media and all political parties
except BJP, stood united rock solid to support this agitation.
We contacted the West Bengal Government, Political parties, Civil
Society and Media. We formed an organisation, SAHMARMI. For the first
time, West Bengal supported the Dalit Refugees. Later it turned out
to be an exercise to expand the CPIM base in North India with refugee
Vote Bank. CPIM launched a false land movement led by Brinda karat in
Terai only to divide the Bengalies settled there.MPs and Party
leaders including Biman Basu visited our area for the first time
while they had already cooperated to pass the Citizenship Amendment
Bill, 2003. Cpim fielded no less than forteen candidates in the next
assembly elections!
ND Tiwari was the only leader who always supported the Bengali
refugees in Terai. He visited Bengali resettlement in 1954 for the
first time. He befriended with all the refugees. he knew all the Old
Men and the Youth by name in every colony.
In 1960, only ND Tiwari ensured the suceess of the first All India
Refugee Conference in Dineshpur.
I was to young to join the conference. But I would never forget the
occassion. My father was involved in Refugee Mobilisation. Meanwhile,
he visited the riot torn Assam. he returned and organised the
conference having sent his younger brother, Chhoto kaka to Assam.
My two sisters died without any medical help during those hectic days.
I remember that day. It was a dark, humid day in Terai. We saw no
Rainbow in the sky as it did not rain. The sky was unclear and the
Himalays were not visible. The Himalays just disappeared from the
Horizon.
We were all alone, isolated like a lonely Island.
Though our Village people were there. But what help could they offer?
They tried their best to locate Pulin Babu and failed.
Tuni was younger than me. the other girl was an infant and was still
unnamed. They both succumbed in the Evening and all the darkness of
this Galaxy involved us. I saw my Jetah Moshai, the Eldest uncle
weeping. Thamma, Pisisma, Jethima and Kakima were crying. Didi, Meera
was also crying. All the women in the neighbourhood were crying.
But I was not crying. I do not know how I realised in those days of
innocense that any amount of crying is not going to help us anyway.
I just noted and witness the Event of Tragedy.
I was shocked.
But I was strong enough to face the Ultimate truth.
It was my Making. I had to change this scenerio!
Tragedies and Holocaust never cease. We have to change the system and
circumstances causing all these tragedies and Holocausts.
Believe me, or not, I saw the rainbow bleedin all the time and always
I believed that we could Change! It has to be changed!
This is the ultimate lesson I got with my first solid memory as a
child.
And just read this letter which I wrote in 2007. It is addressed to a
friend , Dr PG Biswas, a Professor in GB Pant University Pant Nagar.
The Terai in Nainital was a home for epidemics and wild life. We
changed it.
We have to change the galaxy someday!
Biswas Da (PG Biswas, Pantnagar University, Namaskar.
I was waiting for your call/mail. My mobile 09903717833 as well as
land phone had been out of order for few days. May be you have tried.
I tried to call you yesterday thrice and failed to contact. I am
interested to know the progress of your work. I also wait for the
feedback from all the friends and orgs involved in Dalit mobilisation
and anti imperialism Black Untouchable Resistance!
Meanwhile, BAMCEF invited me to address its National conference in
Patna. I have to speak on Nationality problem , Refugee problem and
citizenship amendment act, Dalit Panchayat and south India and non
Hindu periphery. I have to speak on 25th December.I have nothing
against the other faction of Bamcef which is holding its conference
in New Delhi. I was also proposed to address that conference. Since
they do not treat our case, the plight of Dalit Bengali Refugees and
Nationality problems, non Hindu periphera as burning issues
inescapable and skip it- I decided for not going there. But I believe
broader unity of all subaltern, SC, ST, OBC and Minority unity to
annihilate this Hindu, Zionist, White Post Modern Manusmriti
Corporate Manusmriti Imperialism!
On the other hand , our family faced a great tragedy as my cousin
sister`s MeeraDee`s eldest Son Shekhar who belong to Suraj Farm,
expired in a road accident near Bijnore.The body is waited to reach
there from New Delhi AAIMS, where a brain surgery was done to save
him as last bid. Whole family is there. I had to go.But I can
not.Shekhar had been eldest amongst all our children. While my father
was leading Dhimri Block Insurrection in 1958 or led refuges
countrywide, we, Meeradi and me had been the only children in the
joint family. My uncles were liable to see the family. Father was
dedicated to the society. Later, after the riots of sixties my late
uncle Dr Sudhir Kumar Biswas was also sent to Assam refugee areas to
attend their health needs. Meeradi looked after me. As the ladies in
the family my aunts and mother used to be always busy to attend
infinite needy crisis struck daily guests and home management.
Shekhar was borne at our place and I clearly visualise the event. he
had been such a nice boy always present to help in crisis. Thanks
God, My father, mother, Uncles and aunts - no one survive to face the
tragedy. My sister is an excellent old lady and her Husband had been
a teacher. I am concerned for the poor old couple!
My wife Sabita had undergone open heart surgery in 1995 and we have
got doctors appointments.
Moreover, it is a rare opportunity to address the BAMCEF Conference
as no other political or non political org supports us.
You know the family legacy and liability. It is really a very tough
decision to make. I inherit the legacy of struggle from my father.
And perhaps you should know that two of my sisters expired without
medical care while he was engaged in mass mobilisation.
I am just following my father`s example. My wife is weeping all these
days. As last week my bosome college life friend Pawan Rakesh also
lost his only son dearest gaurab, only 23 yrs old in a road accident
in Dehradoon where he studied.
It is a very tough time.
but I have to be aware of my surroundings. I have to take care of my
enslaved communities unguarded from civil and human rights
violations. My family in Naninital and relatives countrywide would
consider me heartless as my family considered my father once upon a
time in 1960.
In these circumstances I want your support to convince my friends
there that I have not any other option. i will be in Naninital in
January, i hope.
I request everyone belonging to Bahujan communities to attend the
BAMCEF Conference in Patna beginning from 25th December. I hope that
our friends from Uttaranchal and UP will be there. It is much more
important as the conference is being held in Bihar where Dalit
Bengali refugees are isolated rest of the community.
We have to unify all the Islands!
Palash Biswas
Kolkata
15 December,2007
Nirmal. Nirmal joshi, a friend , a comrade is no more. He died on 24
October,2007. He was sick for long time. My sweet home Nainital is
situated perhaps in another galaxy. We have so many E-Groups, mobiles
and net, but we did not know the news. I had to attend the birthday
party of Golu, the lovely small boy , my friend film director Rajiv
Kumar`s son last Sunday. We met in south kolkata in his new flat.
Director Joshy Joseph and a bunch of young filmmakers and technitians
were present. We discussed nandigram, Singur, Bangladesh, Refugee
movement, my father, globalisation and American corporate
Imperialism. But we could not discuss on our home Nainital or
Uttrakhand. We have no news, no feedback, no phone call from
Nainital. No body informed us that Nirmal is not there to participate
in any hot debate on our favourite topics as he used to do in
seventies during our college days, during emergency and Chipko
Andolan, during Nasha nahee Rozgar do. He won`t be there to enact
again , `Thank You Mr Glad'.
On monday only, I recieved a copy of Nainital samachar and got the
news. I informed rajiv. We were stunned that a friend born in 1956
went away for ever so silently. Nirmal was never silent. We shared a
single quilt in Girda`s room with Girda, Mohan, Prim, Pushpa and
Nirmal. We shared single cup of tea during rehearsals of Yugmanch. We
shared a bottle of wine in chilly night in Nainital.Everyone had to
have a chuski. We discussed the world strolling on Mal road beside
the splendid Naini Lake in winter nights amid snowfall. We discussed
Marx and Mao, Gandhi and Lohia, Classics written worldwide and the
contemporary world. We discussed our dreams. We discussed every
moment a better Uttarakhand , a better India and a better world.
What Uttarakhand we have got! What a world is this!
During emergency, we were students in degree classes in Nainital.
Mohan alias Kapilesh Bhoj and me went to Mathura and Kota during
winter vacation to attend writers` secret meetings. We used to have
our study circles on Snow Peak or Tiffin Top. Nainital samchar was
yet to publish. In DSB college we had Mahendra Singh Pal, the
students` Union President, Raja Bahuguna, Sher Singh Naulia,
Bhagirath Lal, the most versatile actor Zahoor Alam, Suresh Arya,
Kashi Singh Airy and many more who represent Uttarakhand assembly
nowadays.Pradip Tamta, now a Congress MLA , was our ideological
leader.He was most aggressive. Mohan and me were considered
intellectuals in the group as we used to write regularly.At that time
we were room partners in Bengal Hotel Nainital as we left the house
of Tara Chandra Tripathi, our guide and teacher.
We knew Girda as a poet and a very good director actor.We had no
interaction with Rajiv Lochan sah or Shekhar Pathak at that time. DD
Pant was our Vice chacellor who launched Uttarakhand Kranti Dal later
and kash emerged the leader.
Tamta came to our room and introduced Nirmal, an MA student in
political science.His father was the head clerk in our DSB college
and we had serious doubts about Nirmal`s commitment. Very soon he
proved to be more committed. We had secret meetings in Kashipur,
Gularbhoj and Dineshpur in Terai. We had regular study circles. We
were fighting against emergency. Raja Bahuguna joined us at this
point. He shifted to new founded Uttaraghand Sangharsh Vahini with us
from Janata Dal. Earlier he had been Nainital district Youth Congress
President. He left Congress during May, 1977 elections.
During Chipko movement and just after Nainital Club Fire, the entire
group was together with Almora friends Vipin Tripathi, shamsher Singh
Bisht and chandra Sekhar Bhatt, PC Tiwari and many more. Nirmal was
most active among us.Nainital Samachar, Nainital, Ramje Inter College
Almora, Someshwar, Dwarahat, Tehri, Uttarkashi and the total
Uttarakhan along with Terai became our centres of activity. We often
were involved in heated discussion. Niramal, Girda, Vipin Chacha and
Me were the most vocal. Harish Pant, Zahoor Alam, Shamsher, Rajiv
Lochan, Pawan Rakesh, Shekhar Pathak, dr Ajay Rawat and Dr Chandresh
Shastri were very logical. We always dominated.
We decided the layout and content of Nainital Samachar and the
editorial team had to surrender. Outsiders like Naveen Joshi from
Lucknow were the regular visitors. Pankaj Bisht, Biren Dangwal,
kunwar Prasoon, Sundar Lal Bahuguna, Jawaqhar Lal kaul, Anand Swaroop
Verma, Himanshu Joshi, Diva Bhatt and others interrupted us sometimes.
Uma Bahtt was married to Shekhar and she became the most silent and
active worker. She played the host role for us the anarchists. We
danced together on the occassion of Rajiv`s marriage. We may not
forget all those days. Rajiv Kumar came from Pantnagar and became a
part of us. We played dramas by Badal Sarkar and the director was BB
karanth. We played Trishanku with BM shah.
During Thank You Mr Glad our team was attacked in Ramje college by
RSS goons. Nirmal was thrashed. He played the Patnaik role in the
play. He was not an actor as Zahoor and our Yugmanch friends were.
But he acted very well. The wife of Patnaik was enacted by Pushpa.
Nirmal`s father was not ready to agree their marriage as Nirmal was
a Kumauni Brahmin and Pushpa , a Thakur titled Bisht. Bua Pushpa and
Nirmal passed those challanges very well. both of them were
established lawyers in Nainital Highcourt.
Me and Savita went to Nainital just after our marraige. We met Nirmal
and Pushpa for the last time then in May, 1983.
Nirmal changed a lot. He was drinking too muich and was availabl only
in the Boat club. thus, I could not meet him for years. same was the
case with friends in Nainital. We listened that Nirmal is changing
once again. he is prepared to play a second innings in the mass
movement.
Person's nexus of statuses, defines only a selection of his rights,
duties, and capacities and endangers only one sector of his total
social identity....
The family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage,
blood, or adoption; constituting a single household, interacting and
inter-communicating
generally live under one roof, who eat food cooked at one hearth, who
hold property in common.
Tribe, caste, sect and class are the various categories of social
stratification found in India. A tribe is a collection of families or
groups of families.
330 kms northeast of New Delhi in the Kumaon Himalayas lies the
Nainital Lake Valley (29° 22' 60N and 79° 27' 0E) and adjacent hill
resorts. The Nainital area (1938m) lies in the central Himalayas and
is a vantage point to view the great Nanda Devi massif. The Pangot
area (1900m) lies 15 kilometers past Nainital and is on the road to
Vinayak past Kilbury.
The area and its surrounding hills has a record of 200+ Himalayan
bird species.
Mixed forests dominated by thick ban-oak, pine and rhododendron cover
most of the area and surrounding hills. A large part of the landscape
is characterized by dense vegetation. Numerous perennial creeks and
streams crisscross the area.
The terai & bhabhar belt presents the climate of the plains while
the deep valleys with elevation upto 1000 Mts. play host to flora and
fauna typical of hills as well as plains. The middle Himalayan
ranges to 2000 Mts and the sub alpine region upto 2500 Mts complete
the eco-zones.
Indian farmers in a district in Uttar Pradesh, who had given up
traditional rice varieties for high yielding varieties (HYVs) during
the Green Revolution, found themselves in difficulty as the HYVs ran
into problems. These farmers were saved by the foresight of one
farmer who had continued growing traditional varieties which are
cheaper to cultivate and superior to the HYVs in disease and pest
resistance, climate tolerance, yield, flavour and market price.
While several farmers had started growing the Pant-4 HYV (and some
other HYVs) recommended to them, the very high demands of irrigation
as well as chemical fertilisers for this rice HYV were proving a
problem for them. This problem was particularly acute in this drought
year. As a result of heavy exploitation of water, nearly half of the
artesian wells (the most important sources of irrigation in the
terai) had dried up. In the remaining wells too the pressure had
reduced considerably.
Even in rivers the water level declined steeply. The water level in
the Haripura dam on Bhakhra river and the Bore dam on Bore river has
receded so much that the farmers could not seek any solace from these
structures.
A large number of eucalyptus trees planted here in recent years have
also contributed to lowering the water-table. Most of these trees
have been planted on fields bunds. Villagers say that a row of this
tree sucks up to a distance of five metres in the field.
Earlier the main feature of this area had been its abundance of
ground-water. But the destruction of natural forests in the hills
above as well as in the plains of the terai reduced this to a large
extent. At the same time, exploitation of the ground-water started on
a truly massive scale by not only bringing much more land under
cultivation but also growing highly water-intensive HYVs, especially
the new exotic strains of paddy, on this land. The water-table went
down drastically, at some places as low as 50 feet, making it
necessary to dig tubewells to satiate the needs of the HYVs and the
new cropping pattern.
Initially, when water abundance had made this a particularly good
land for growing rice HYVs, the traditional paddy varieties had been
given up by most farmers. However, one far-sighted farmer, Inder
Singh continued to grow and preserve several diverse traditional
varieties having different properties with respect to disease and
pest susceptibility, climate tolerance, yield, flavour, aroma, etc.
Among these he noticed one particular variety which had good
qualities of flavour as well as high yield.
As the water level receded and the HYVs ran into some other problems
as well, some farmers started yearning for traditional seeds and
happily they could get these from Inder Singh. His best variety was
named Indarasan - as a tribute to his farsightedness in preserving
and improving it. Owing to high productivity and low costs of
cultivation (in terms of fertilisers and water), this variety was
popular among farmers. The small farmers least capable of coping with
the high cost of HYVs especially found Indarasan a very useful
variety. In just about six to seven years nearly half of the land was
covered by Indarasan, and even some big farmers adopted this variety.
During the recent drought season, Indarasan coped much better than
Pant-4, the most widely grown variety here among the various paddy
HYVs. In fact the yield of Indarasan paddy this year has gone up,
reaching a peak of 32 quintals per acre from the earlier average of
25 quintals per acre. On the other hand Pant-4 has stagnated at 20
quintals per acre, and where irrigation could not be arranged, this
HYV has been destroyed almost entirely.
What is more, the Indarasan variety is fetching a better price on the
market - its rate of Rs.208 per quintal in Gandarpur mandi (market)
compares very favourably with the Rs.175 per quintal for Pant-4.
There is a big rush among farmers to get the Indarasan seed for next
year's crop.
Farmers who have been cultivating Indarasan for some time are
satisfied that it has not been susceptible to diseases and they
compare this to the high susceptibility of the so-called HYVs.
The Indarasan variety also has good flavour and scent, and its
threshing is much easier. In comparison the threshing of Pant-4
requires much more effort. In addition the proportion of unbroken
grains is higher in Indarasan.
In terms of flavour Indarasan is vying with popular types of rice
like Basmati and Hansraj for a place of honour. It also yields more
dry fodder for cattle compared to the dwarf HYVs, and even in quality
Indarasan's fodder has been found relatively better (generally paddy
fodder is considered a poor quality fodder, to be used only in case
of extreme need).
Unfortunately some scientists who identify their own work only with
the popularisation of exotic HYVs are feeling uneasy about this re-
discovery of farmers, instead of learning from the field-situation
and re-orienting their research effort accordingly.
This better performance of a traditional variety grown at a lower
cost, particularly in a drought year, is especially significant since
it took place in the Nainital terai region, considered a birth-place
of the Green Revolution in India.
Nainital is referred to in the `Manas Khand' of the `Skanda Purana'
as the Tri-Rishi-Sarovar, the lake of the three sages, Atri, Pulastya
and Pulaha who were reputed to have arrived here on penitential
pilgrimage and finding no water to quench their thirst dug a hole and
siphoned water into it from Mansarovar the sacred lake in Tibet.
The second important mythological reference to Nainital is as one of
64 `Shakti Peeths'. These centres were created wherever parts of
charred body of Sati fell, when Lord Shiva was carrying around her
corpse in grief. It is said that the left eye (Nain) of Sati fell
here and this gave rise to patron deity of town Nainital. It is said
that the lake is formed in the emerald eye shape. Naina Devi temple
is located at the northern end of the lake. Thus name of Nainital
derivated from Naina and the tal (Lake).
Before creation of independent District Nainital on October 13, 1891,
it was part of Kumaon Sessions Division vide Notification No.1314/VI-
48-1914 dated 26th March, 1914 Mr.Wyndham, I.C.S. was appointed as
first Commissioner of Kumaon Division, who also worked as Sessions
Judge for this Division. At that time, Almora, Garhwal, Nainital and
Pilibhit were placed under this Sessions Division. Later on, Pilibhit
was removed from Kumaon Sessions Division.
Under the treaty of Sigauli in 1816, Nepal formally ceded the
territory of Uttarakhand, and certain other areas to the East India
Company. A province of Kumaon was formed consisting of the erstwhile
districts of Almora, Garhwal and Nainital. Garhwal was separated from
Kumaon under the Act X of 1838 and Terai Districts were created.
Thus, the province of Kumaon included the districts of Kumaon,
Garhwal and Terai came in existence. But, on 13th October, 1891,
Nainital district was formed by combining the Tarai and Bhabar area
with certain hill patties which were formerly included in what was
known as Kumaon District which thereafter came to be known as Almora.
The three Districts of Almora, Nainital and Garhwal constituted the
Kumaon Division. On the merger of the erstwhile Tehri State in 1949,
Tehri District was also added to this Division.
On the absorption of Kumaon with the rest of British India, the then
Governor-General appointed Hon'ble E.Gardner to assume the office and
title of Commissioner for the affairs of Kumaon and Agent to the
Governor-General on 3rd May, 1815, and Mr. G.W.Traill as his
Assistant. But as the former mostly remained busy with his military
and political duties in Nepal, the burden of administration fell on
his Assistant, Mr.Traill.
The administrative history of Kumaon Division in the words of Whalley
in his "Law of Non-Regulation-
periods "Kumaon under Traill; Kumaon under Batten and Kumaon under
Ramsay". The regime in the first period was essentially paternal,
despotic and personal. It resisted the centralizing tendency which
the policy of the Government had developed. It, though arbitrary was
just wise and progressive administration. Mr.Traill's administration
lasted from 1815 to 1835.
"Mr. Batten ruled Kumaon during 1836-56, but the early stages of his
rule were marked by an influx of codes and rules and a predominance
of official supervision which gradually subsided as he gained
influence position and experience. Thus, the second period glided
insensibly, into the third period which nevertheless has a
distinctive character of its own. In Sir Henry Ramsay's
administration we see the two currents blended. The personal sway and
unhampered autocracy of the first era, combining with it the orderly
procedure and observance of fixed rules and principles, was the chief
feature of the second."
It may be stated that in the earliest times administration of
justice, civil or criminal was hardly any problem to the British
Government. From 1st of January, 1820 to 31st December, 1821 the
total number of criminals confined in Jail amounted to sixty five out
of whom 4 had been convicted of murder, 3 for thefts above Rs.50 and
the rest for petty thefts, assaults, defamation, forgery, etc. In the
words of Traill himself in his Statistical Sketch of Kumaon, "affrays
of a serious nature are of rare occurrence and even petty assaults
are most infrequent…..
are numerous; these are invariably referred to the Pandit of the
Court, whose decree delivered to the party concerned is conclusive ….
In civil judicature the simple forms of the preceding Government have
been generally retained. The petition originating the suit is
required to be written on an eight-anna stamp but no institution or
other fees are levied. A notice in the form of an ittalanama is then
issued when process is served by the plaintiff in three cases out of
four produces a compromise between the parties. In case the
compromise is not affected it is returned by the plaintiff to the
court and the defendant was summoned. The parties then plead their
cause in person and in case the facts are disputed on either side,
evidence is called for. Oaths are never administered except in
particular cases and at the express desire of either party. Suits for
division of property or settlement of accounts are commonly referred
to arbitrators selected by the parties. In the matter of execution of
decrees, the established forms were followed by the leniency of
native creditors renders imprisonment and sales in satisfaction of
decrees uncommon… At that time only one court (Commissioner'
exists in the province for trial of civil cases."
Untramelled by any laws, rules and regulations Mr. Traill made his
own arrangements for administration of Civil and Criminal justice. He
was not only the head of the civil administration but the sole
legislator and dispenser of civil justice. He had framed his own
rules of procedure for presentation of plaints on an eight-anna stamp
irrespective of the valuation of the claim on presentation of which
the plaintiff was required to serve notice on the defendant himself.
In seventy-five percent of cases the claims were compromised. In
other cases the parties were first examined where after their
witnesses, if any, were examined, but oath was generally not
administered.
There were no lawyers and no one was permitted to act as an agent of
the contending parties and the maximum duration of a suit was twelve
days. Incidentally, it may be stated that Mr. Traill also conducted
the first `Nazarandazi' survey of Kumaon in Samvat 1880 i.e., 1818
A.D. (Commonly known as "Sal assi") which still continues to form the
basic document for determining village boundaries. There was no
actual survey, but Mr. Traill rationally allotted and amidst the
different villages by reference to natural or prominent features
existing on the northern, southern, eastern and western boundaries of
each village. Actual survey operations in most of the areas of Kumaon
were undertaken for the first time by Mr. Beckett in 1856.
According to Walton's Gazetteer for the District of Almora first
Munsif was appointed in 1829 and seven Kanungos were invested with
the title and powers of Munsif and title of Sadar Amin was conferred
on Court Pandit. These officers continued to exercise powers of Civil
Judges till 1838. After these offices were abolished, the Act X of
1838 was enforced under which the districts of Kumaon and Garhwal
each had one Senior Assistant, one Sadar Amin and one Munsiff under
Sadar Dewani Adalat. In civil administration Kumaon Province was
placed under the jurisdiction of Sadar Dewani Adalat in 1838 and
remained subject to its jurisdiction till 1864. The Assam Rules with
certain modifications were adopted for the administration of civil
and criminal justice in 1839. These rules were superseded in 1863 by
a set of Civil and Revenue Rules known as Jhansi Rules, statutory
authority was given to these rules by section 2 of the Non-Regulation
District Act (Central Act XXIV of 1864). Under section 4 of the said
Act, Civil Procedure Code was also made applicable. Rules for service
of processes were based on the lines laid down by Mr. Traill.
Thereafter, a new set of rules under notification No.628/VII-569-
dated 27th June, 1894 were promulgated under which the Commissioner
was constituted as the High Court of Kumaon except in the cases under
Succession Act, in respect of which he acted as a District Judge and
an appeal would lie to the High Court of Allahabad against his
decision. The other revenue officers i.e. Assistant Collectors were
invested with the powers to decide civil cases with varying extent of
jurisdiction. Under Rule 17 the Government had however been vested
with power to make reference to the High Court of Allahabad against
the decision of the Commissioner. Thereafter, the Commissioner
sitting as the High Court of Kumaon would decide the cases in
accordance with the opinion of the High Court.
The Commissioner of Kumaon, however, continued to exercise the powers
of a High Court until the enforcement of Notification No.543/VII-421
dated 1st April, 1926 (Published at page 57 of the Rules and orders
relating to Kumaon). A District Judge was appointed to exercise
jurisdiction over Pilibhit and the three districts Almora, Garhwal
and Nainital constituting the Kumaon Division. Later on Pilibhit was
separated from Kumaon judgeship. The Deputy Commissioners of the
three districts were invested with the powers of a subordinate judge
and Assistant Collectors who were revenue officers were empowered to
try civil suits up to a valuation of rupees five thousand.
The arrangement of investing revenue officers with the powers of
Civil Judges and Munsiffs did not work satisfactorily. After 1926 the
District Judge of Kumaon became the Appellate Court in respect of
civil case decided by them. These revenue officers were not very much
conversant with civil laws. Their judgments were subjected to severe
criticism at the hands of the District Judge. Consequently they were
hesitant to try civil cases which had been thrust upon them by virtue
of their office as Assistant Collectors. This led to an appalling
state of affairs in the accumulation of arrears in the disposal of
civil cases. Sir Iqbal Ahmad the then Chief Justice drew the
attention of the Government to this fact. In 1942 the U.P. Government
agreed to post one judicial officer at Almora with powers of an
Assistant Collector of first class, who by virtue of his office
became a Civil Judge with jurisdiction to try civil suits up to a
valuation of Rs.5,000/-.
This experiment proved very successful. Consequently in 1947 the
Government appointed a number of young and promising lawyers as
Revenue Officers exclusively to try and dispose of civil cases. In
1952 the High Court appointed its own Munsiffs and Civil Judges under
Bengal and Assam Civil Courts Act.
After the merger of the erstwhile Tehri State one more Civil and
Sessions Judges were posted to Kumaon under the District and Sessions
Judge. On account of administrative convenience his headquarters was
fixed at Tehri. The District and Sessions Judge of Kumaon was also a
Civil Judge of Kumaon and as such he tried and disposed of original
suits of higher valuation. An Additional Civil and Sessions Judge was
also appointed to assist him whenever the workload increased.
As regards administration of criminal justice, criminal jurisdiction
was conferred on Kumaon officers in July 1817 under Regulation X of
1817 except in certain serious offences like murder, robbery, treason
etc. for the trial of which a Commissioner had to be specifically
appointed by the Governor-General in Council. After recording
evidence in the case, the Commissioner used to submit his report to
the Nizamat Adalat which passed the final sentence. It seldom became
necessary to appoint a Commissioner under this provision. This
Regulation was subsequently repealed by Act X of 1838, as a result of
which criminal courts in Kumaon came directly under the control of
Nizamat Adalat. Rules were made under the Act for administration of
criminal justice which was later on superseded by the Criminal
Procedure Code under which the Commissioner of Kumaon was appointed
as the Sessions Judge.
Shukla RP, Nanda N, Pandey AC, Kohli VK, Joshi H, Subbarao SK.
Malaria Research Centre (Field Station), Haldwani, India.
A study on the bionomics of Anopheles fluviatilis sensu lato was
carried out in two physiographic regions, viz. Bhabar and Terai of
District Nainital, Uttar Pradesh. In both areas, An. fluviatilis was
found resting indoors predominantly in cattlesheds. Cytological
examination of An. fluviatilis revealed that species T and U were
sympatric in Bhabar and Terai villages with predominance of species
T. These two sibling species appear to be poor vectors of malaria.
PMID: 10448226 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
[edit] Scientific explanation
The rainbow's appearance is caused by dispersion of sunlight as it
goes through raindrops. The light is first refracted as it enters the
surface of the raindrop, reflected off the back of the drop, and
again refracted as it leaves the drop. The overall effect is that the
incoming light is reflected back over a wide range of angles, with
the most intense light at an angle of 40°–42°. The angle is
independent of the size of the drop, but does depend on its
refractive index. Seawater has a higher refractive index than rain
water, so the radius of a 'rain'bow in sea spray is smaller than a
true rainbow. This is visible to the naked eye by a misalignment of
these bows.[2]
The amount by which light is refracted depends upon its wavelength,
and hence its colour. Blue light (shorter wavelength) is refracted at
a greater angle than red light, but because the area of the back of
the droplet has a focal point inside the droplet, the spectrum
crosses itself, and therefore the red light appears higher in the
sky, and forms the outer colour of the rainbow. Contrary to popular
belief, the light at the back of the raindrop does not undergo total
internal reflection and some light does emerge from the back.
However, light coming out the back of the raindrop does not create a
rainbow between the observer and the sun because spectra emitted from
the back of the raindrop do not have a maximum of intensity, as the
other visible rainbows do, and thus the colours blend together rather
than forming a rainbow.
Light rays enter a raindrop from one direction (typically a straight
line from the Sun), reflect off the back of the raindrop, and fan out
as they leave the raindrop. The light leaving the rainbow is spread
over a wide angle, with a maximum intensity of 40.6°–42°.
White light separates into different colours (wavelengths) on
entering the raindrop because red light is refracted by a lesser
angle than blue light. On leaving the raindrop, the red rays have
turned through a smaller angle than the blue rays, producing a
rainbow.
Religion and mythology
The end of a rainbow.
Main article: Rainbows in mythology
The rainbow has a place in legend owing to its beauty and the
historical difficulty in explaining the phenomenon.
In Greek mythology, the rainbow was considered to be a path made by a
messenger (Iris) between Earth and Heaven. In Chinese mythology, the
rainbow was a slit in the sky sealed by Goddess Nüwa using stones of
five different colours. In Hindu mythology, the rainbow is called
Indradhanush, meaning the bow of Indra, the God of lightning and
thunder. In Norse Mythology, a rainbow called the Bifröst Bridge
connects the realms of Ásgard and Midgard, homes of the gods and
humans, respectively. The Irish leprechaun's secret hiding place for
his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow. This
place is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical
effect which depends on the location of the viewer. When walking
towards the end of a rainbow, it will move further away.
After Noah's Deluge, the Bible relates that the rainbow gained
meaning as the sign of God's promise that terrestrial life would
never again be destroyed by flood (Genesis 9.13-15[14])
I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth
and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that
is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the
waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Another ancient portrayal of the rainbow is given in the Epic of
Gilgamesh: the rainbow is the "jewelled necklace of the Great Mother
Ishtar" that she lifts into the sky as a promise that she "will never
forget these days of the great flood" that destroyed her children.
(The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet Eleven)
Then Ishtar arrived. She lifted up the necklace of great jewels that
her father, Anu, had created to please her and said, "Heavenly gods,
as surely as this jewelled necklace hangs upon my neck, I will never
forget these days of the great flood. Let all of the gods except
Enlil come to the offering. Enlil may not come, for without reason he
brought forth the flood that destroyed my people."
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