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Posted by: Bhavita Dec 28 2009, 12:21 AM

Could not find any other forum to post this, hence posting this on what I thought was the most appropriate forum since Gulzarji has been actively involved with the candle light walk

The news is that Mirza Ghalib's haveli was let out as a venue to host marriage parties. Apparently the caretaker of the haveli was later suspended.

Gulzar, director Vishal Bharadwaj and his wife and singer Rekha Bharadwaj were a part of the candlelight vigil to commemorate Mirza Ghalib's 212 birthday, and the movement against misuse of the haveli for such commercial activities

More details on this article.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/March-to-Ghalibs-haveli-for-keeping-flame-burning/articleshow/5383040.cms

Posted by: simplefable Dec 28 2009, 10:34 AM

This is India and anything could happen here..! Wont be surprised if this is repeated.. I never found this news in my papers, which shows the kind of importance we attach to things. When i visited Mysore a couple of years before, i was moved to see that a painting ( original ) of Ravi Varma was in such a bad state that it was torn in a corner !!
With this rate of regression, we wont be preserving any signs of heritage to the generation next..

Posted by: Faraaj73 Dec 28 2009, 01:20 PM

I'm reading William Dalrymple these days. I've finished The Last Mughal and White Mughals and will complete City of Djinns in a day or two. What comes through, apart from Mr. Dalrymple's love for Delhi, is his sorrow at the rapid destruction of old Delhi with rampant commercialisation. Its the same in Pakistan. There were some tablets near Mansehra that Asoka wrote on. Those tablets survived the elements and different empires for thousands of years, but have been defaced in recent years (infact destroyed) because Asoka was not a muslim!!! This mean-spirited bigotry and lack of respect for our ancestry is really very depressing.

Posted by: madsur Dec 28 2009, 05:32 PM

Could not have better expressed.
Lack of respect apart, this is nothing short of vandalism.
Very sad.

Posted by: madsur Dec 28 2009, 05:33 PM

You stole words out of my mouth.
Very depressing.

Posted by: simplefable Dec 28 2009, 08:49 PM

Faraaj, Suresh..i totally agree with you. Art / Culture /Heritage are above religion and region. The art at Vatican moved me as much as i see else where, the oldest temples or our own Charminar !
Charminar is in the center of a road, acting more like a traffic island !! with the kind of pollution around it, am sure that this work of art wont last for long ..posting a pic of it..

Posted by: Faraaj73 Dec 29 2009, 04:16 AM

SF

This Charminar is beautiful. I'd love to see it one day. Which city is it in?

You know, if one studies the history of our part of the world, there is a lot to take pride in. The real face of hinduism was one of remarkable humility and tolerance for all creeds. The modern face (RSS, BJP et al) has really moved away from the inclusiveness that is at the heart of the original and inspiring hindu faith/culture.

There is no trace of the historic religions the Greeks supplanted, because they wiped out any trace. When the Romans gained ascendancy, they destroyed Greek temples or built their Roman temples on top of the original Greek ones. When Christianity came, among the first things they did was to deface the Roman statues by breaking the noses and putting a cross on the forehead. SF, you would've seen that in Rome. An example of Christian bigotry was taking the most remarkable "pagan" symbol of all - the Pantheon - and stripping it of its beautiful marble and gold in order to use that for St Peter's Basilica.

While there are examples of wanton destruction even in the early years, Islamic rule was the first example of religious tolerance in the Middle East or Europe. Coming out of hundreds of years of muslim rule, many Eastern Europe still retain the frescoes on their churches that date back to early Christianity. The rock churches of Cappadocia are still intact. In an edict issued by the church in the 1100's, one of the charges levelled against the Mohammedan faith was that it had no genuine conviction because it tolerated all other creeds. All this is a far cry from the angry and largely hostile attitude of the muslim masses today.

The real tragedy is that we have fallen and forgotten our fine past.

Posted by: madsur Dec 29 2009, 05:12 AM

This reminds me of a wonderful documentary that was broadcast by BBC - called ' An Islamic History of Europe'. It is a very educative & eye-opening documentary. A must watch.

It can be accessed at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/islamic-history-europe.shtml

The full documentary is available on youtube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0IaCK-7z5o&feature=PlayList&p=10F30788885DB43E&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

The bottom line is that it is very important for the humankind to be more tolerant.
But propaganda by vested interests has created just the opposite.

Posted by: simplefable Dec 29 2009, 11:41 AM

Faraaj, the picture i posted doesnt reflect even one percent of the beauty of the Charminar. it has very intricate carvings on the edifices..so intricate and beautiful that words cant explain. It is in Hyderabad, Andhra pradesh. the head quarters of our state. which has become right now the hotbed for the separatists of Telangana...
A historic place called Chandragiri is situated at a distance of 12 kms from my native place, Tirupati. Chandragiri is the last bastion of the great empire of Sri krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagar. There are atleast twenty five statues there, beheaded by the invaders ! They bore testimony to the mind set of the religious fanatics of those times...
The gaping holes in the walls of Collesium in Rome are caused because the brass rods which were there as re-inforcement were pluck out...they went into the making of the central canopy in St. peters, Vatican..magnificent piece of art by Bernini.
Posting both of the pictures...just to remember them.
It is history that Popes used to go wars with armies to conquer new lands. now they preach peace to the entire world...what an irony !!
Unfortunately what you say is true...muslim masses are identified as violent. LIke wise, none of the educated or peace loving hindus support BJP or Bajrang dal..
Ultimately, it is the religions that are going to survive..not the human races.






Exactly...couldnt say more....

Posted by: Bhavita Dec 29 2009, 01:36 PM

Oh my!!

I seem to have missed out on some intresting discussions here in the last one day.. and I got to rush again. Just logged in on a five minute break before a meeting

Will be back here to read it all in detail now