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Dorf, the 'Hindu bard', back in Aberystwyth at last

16/4/2023

Dorothy (Dorf) Bonarjee returned to Aberystwyth in the past week, 110 years after she was a student there. In spirit, at least.

Her triumph in the college Eisteddfod in 1914 prompted a burst of poetic creativity which has now been celebrated in the first ever collati0n of her verse. And the Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales hosted a really well attended event to mark the publication.

The Hindu Bard: the poetry of Dorothy Bonarjee has been published by Honno, the Welsh women's press - and they have done a great job. It's well designed, with a great cover and good quality illustrations - and the poems themselves are a stimulating and arresting read.

Professor Elin Jones, Director of the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, chaired the panel discussion, which involved me and my co-editor. Mohini Gupta . We were joined on the panel by the historian Faaeza Jasdanwalla-Williams. Jane Aaron, editor of Honno's Welsh Women's Classics Series, made introductory remarks. Dominique Baron-Bonarjee, Dorf's great niece, addressed the gathering on behalf of the Bonarjee family and read one of Dorothy's poems - and Mohini too recited a selection of Bonarjee's verse.

At the close of the event, Dorothy Bonarjee's papers were formally handed over to the National Library on behalf of her niece, Sheela Bonarjee, and they will be catalogued and made available to researchers and anyone else who wants to see them.

This slide show of the launch feature's Kevin's excellent photos and many thanks to him for permission to post them here.

And a big thank you to the National Library of Wales for hosting the event in this solidly impressive building looking down on the town of Aberystwyth.

ON PILGRIMAGE IN ABERYSTWYTH

We took the opportunity of a visit to Aberystwyth to follow in Dorf's footsteps. Her years at Aberystwyth were her most productive as a writer of verse - and although she faced the anguish of being ditched by her Welsh fiance because his parents disapproved of a romance with an Indian woman, she made firm friends here and achieved success and a measure of contentment.

Here's a view of Aberystwyth from the top of Consti Hill (no, we didn't hike up there - there's a funicular tram) - one of her poems reflects on climbing up here ...

... and seeing Clarach Bay on the other side..

At the foot of Consti Hill is the rather forbidding looking Alexandra Hall where Bonarjee lived for some of her student years - the first purpose-built hall of residence for women students in the UK.

The spectacular grade 1-listed Old College is currently undergoing renovation - what a remarkable medley of architectural styles.

Nearby is the building which housed the National Library at the time Dorf was a student here.

And rather wonderfully the Coliseum Theatre, where the annual congregation was held at which Dorothy Bonarjee received her degree, is now part of Ceredigion Museum.

It's been so exciting to help get Dorothy Bonarjee's poetry published in book form and such a pleasure to visit the Welsh town which was the springboard of her creativity.

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The incredible story of a Spy for Peace

12/4/2023

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Sixty years ago exactly, a small and necessarily secretive group of young British radicals made headlines around the world. Their anonymous self-published pamphlet Danger! Official Secret revealed the government's top secret plans for governing the country in the event of nuclear war. And they exposed the location of one of these civil defence underground bunkers, Regional Seat of Government-6 in the Berkshire village of Warren Row.

The activists took the name the Spies for Peace. They helped organise an informal diversion of the Easter Aldermaston peace march which led to hundreds of protesters surrounding the entrance to RSG-6. And although the authorities didn't realsie this at the time, the Spies for Peace had already managed to break in to the underground bunker - twice! - and copy documents and maps.

Nic Ralph was one of the Spies for Peace, and is the only surviving member of the small group that broke in to RSG-6. After sixty years, he has decided to break his silence and for the first time tell his story of one of the most dramatic, and courageous, episodes in the history of Britain's peace movement.

Nic spoke to me and my colleague Marybeth Hamilton for a History Workshop podcast - the oral historian Sam Carroll, who has conducted landmark research on the Spies for Peace, was also part of the conversation.

Here's the link to the podcast - do give it a listen!

https://soundcloud.com/historyworkshop/spies-for-peace

And the host page for the podcast is here.

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What a tomb for a poet! Khan-i-Khanan

10/4/2023

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This is one of Delhi's grandest Mughal mausoleums - and it used to be quite literally on my doorstep when I first lived in Delhi.

Khan-i-Khanan is the burial place of the Mughal-era poet and soldier who bore that title. He was otherwise known as Rahim, and was a pivotal figure in the court of the Emperor Akbar.

The tomb was built for Rahim's wife in 1598 - Rahim himself was interred here in 1627.

When I was Khan-i-Khanan's neighbour, the place was distinctly run down. It's now been fabulously restored as part of the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative with support from the Aga Khan Development Network.

Some of the marble on the dome has been replaced to give an idea of what the tomb must once have looked like.

Khan-i-Khanan and Humayun's Tomb nearby influenced the design of the Taj Mahal at Agra. But Khan-i-Khanan was later despoiled to provide building material for Safdarjung's Tomb in Delhi.

Just a couple of grouses: payment for admission is digital only and if you don't have 'Pay TM' that's a bit of a hassle.

And when I used to visit this spot thirty years or so ago, I loved to watch the hoopoes who nested here. It was a real joy. The cheel are still around, but this time ... no hoopoes! Boo-hoo!!

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Claude Martin's other legacy: La Martiniere Girls

6/4/2023

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What a beautiful setting for a school! This is La Martiniere Girls' College in Lucknow. It's not quite as old - and its buildings are not quite as grand - as the boys' school. But it is still fairly spectacular.

The school started in 1869, and moved to its present location at Khursheed Manzil two years later. This is a grand house in fortified style, including a substantial moat - a reminder of just how militarised this North Indian city once was.

Khursheed Manzil was built as the home of Khursheed Zadi, wife of the Nawab of Awadh, and was completed in 1818. It was for a while under the control of anti-British forces during the 1857 rebellion.

The small museum at the school explains the building's history

I had the privilege of looking round the school in the company of a former head girl (I'm not allowed to say when) ... and as such, she placed a wreath on the grave of Claude Martin at the boys' school on founder's day. She is also my wife.

We both really appreciated the opportunity to visit this great school.

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Claude Martin's legacy: Lucknow's La Martinière

3/4/2023

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It's both weirdly wacky and amazingly imposing. This is Constantia, the country house in Lucknow built by the French adventurer and soldier, Claude Martin.

The building is now La Martinière boys' school -

Claude Martin was born in Lyons in 1735 and came out to India while still a teenager to work for the Compagnie des Indes. He moved over to the British East India Company, but his wealth - and how! - came from serving the Nawab of Awadh.

Martin started work on Constantia in 1785 but it was only completed in 1802, two years after his death.

He went to great trouble to specify the details of his interment in the basement of his home (perhaps to put off any notion the Nawab might have had to seize the estate)

And go down a slightly sepulchral spiral staircase, and there he still is -

Martin willed much of his wealth to establish institutions of learning - and their are now La Martinière schools in Lucknow (separate boys and girls schools), Calcutta and his native city of Lyons.

La Martinière College in Lucknow has an informal precedence among the schools founded with Martin's money as it houses his grave and was his home. What a place to be educated!

By the way, if you think that's the Ukraine's flag flying from the top of the building ...

... you're wrong! The school's colours happen to be blue and yellow and the original school flag is on display in the museum:

You see the reference on the standard to the defence of Lucknow - well, La Martinière College opened in 1845 after a lot of legal wrangling about Martin's money, and twelve years later the Indian Rebellion (once known in British history books as the Mutiny) broke out. One of the main battle grounds was the British Residency in Lucknow -

The school was ordered to evacuate and pupils and teachers moved into the Residency, and during the siege they fought, carried messages and otherwise aided the defence. The roll of honour is of combatants not casualties. The only pupils to die during the siege of the Residency succumbed to dysentry.

The school itself was also the site of fighting and Martin's tomb was desecrated by the freedom fighters.

La Martinière must be one 0f the few schools to have a gun cannon in its grounds - one that has seen active service.

The school is non-denominational, but one of its most charming features is the chapel, decorated magnificently in the school colours.

Although the architecture is wonderful, and the buildings exceptionally well kept, it is a working school with both boarders and day pupils

And horse riding is encouraged, so the school has its own stables

In the school museum, another really nice touch, there's a portrait by the renowned Johan Zoffany of Martin's mistress and their adopted son

It seems that Claude Martin employed as a nine-year-old child the woman who became his mistress - and then bought her a son. It does send a shudder down your spine!

In the grounds of La Martinière College, there's the very dignified building which Martin had built to house Boulone-Lise's tomb.

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Andrew Whitehead's
Blog

Dorf, the 'Hindu bard', back in Aberystwyth at last

ON PILGRIMAGE IN ABERYSTWYTH

The incredible story of a Spy for Peace

What a tomb for a poet! Khan-i-Khanan

Claude Martin's other legacy: La Martiniere Girls

Claude Martin's legacy: Lucknow's La Martinière

Andrew Whitehead's blog

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​Andrew Whitehead'sBlog

Dorf, the 'Hindu bard', back in Aberystwyth at last

ON PILGRIMAGE IN ABERYSTWYTH​

The incredible story of a Spy for Peace

What a tomb for a poet! Khan-i-Khanan

Claude Martin's other legacy: La Martiniere Girls

Claude Martin's legacy: Lucknow's La Martinière

Andrew Whitehead's blog

Archives

Categories

Andrew Whitehead's
Blog

ON PILGRIMAGE IN ABERYSTWYTH