At The Edge

"[…] the annexed Chinese Map of India, originally copied by M.Klaproth from the Great Japanese Encyclopedia for the illustration of the Foe koue ki. Although in some particulars it differs from the narrates of Hwan thsang and Shy fa hian, being the compilation of some unknown Chinese geographer, who probably gathered his materials from many and conflicting accounts. it will be found both useful and interesting at a time when public attention is directed to China for the most authentic particulars of the early history of this country." ~ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 17, Part 2, 1848. It was an addendum to Alexander Cunningham's detailing of Hiuen Tsang's route in India.

A note on one of the most violent modern Hindi poems.One more reason to hate wars. It makes old people blood thirsty. "From 22nd December 1962, the composition of the poem called Parshuram ki Pratiksha started and it was completed on 7th January 1963. Stirred by the Chinese invasion, he wrote several poems, but in this poem the anger of the whole country was articulated. By 25th December, 1962 most of the passages had been written. When his friend Manoranjan Prasad Sinha heard them, he thought that the poet was showing arrogance. But Dinkar was not at all receptive to such a comment. He wrote in his diary, Sivaji Ganesan in Ratha Thilagam, 1963. The Tamil China War movie. The poem has burst out from the abstruse part of the situation; it has emerged from its basic centre. If one is face to face with the centre, it becomes clear that a grave mistake has been committed. Those days he sat on the third floor of his house on Arya Samaj road at Patna, shed tears and kept wri...

A poster of V. Shantaram's film 'Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani' published in year 1946 in Telugu film journal Roopavani. Found it in the archives of Centre for the Study of Culture and Society. Dwarkanath Kotnis, the Indian doctor who treated Chinese soldiers during the Sino-Japan war of 1938 and won the heart of Mao Zedong has been chosen in national poll in China as one of the top ten foreigners who made “exceptional contributions to the country in the past 100 years." The Internet poll organized by the China Radio International has the stamp of official approval as Jia Qinglin, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, took a direct interest in it. ( more at Times of India dated 11 Dec, 2009)

Once in a while I get an opportunity to rub the fact into the face of my Indian friends that I am a Kashmiri. The conversation usually ends with, 'Yeah Yeah so why didn't you seek asylum in Amreka while you had the chance?' Only a week ago we read about: "Chinese Embassy in Delhi is issuing separate visas to Indian passport holders from Indian-administered Kashmir. Instead of stamping the passport with a visa, as is the norm with Indian citizens, Kashmiri students and businessmen traveling to China have had their visas stamped on a separate paper stapled to the passport. [ News Link, Asia Times ] That make me wanna go, 'Only with a passport! Only with a passport!' like Chaplin's 'communist' boy. Rubs the fact into the face. Today was one such day. The front page of morning paper carried the news that 'Made in China' globes sold in India depict Ja...

September 13th, 2009 Last week there were reports that Chinese troops  intruded 1.5 km inside the territory of India in Ladakh and spray painted China (* in red, no less) on boulders and rocks. They did this near Mount Gya (22,420”), that (experts pointing to strategic significance) touches Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and Tibet in '?'. Chinese response to these reports, 'No! No! We don't do rocks. War monger Indian media sells opium. Indian people, don't let them dope you. China loves you' As often happens, China misunderstood the significance of these reports in India. In reality Indian received the news as one of those Ashok Kumar-Shammi Kapoor 'Pan Parg: O'Ho ! Humein kya maloom tha aap bhi ... ' moments: 'O'Ho! How could we know that you people also love to leave your name on insignificant inanimate things that will outlast significant human existence of this planet.' I am sure if the Indian media, ...

(The virulent opinions (no they are not ramblings) expressed in this series are entirely mine and do not reflect the general opinion of India. India has its own set of problems with China.) I think it all started with the Chinese in Haqeeqat shooting Dharmendra in the back. A really bad start. In the movie, scenes of Chinese Army attacking the Indian post were chilling to the bone. It was like watching waves of brain dead zombies attacking the last human outpost. Picture this: The last few soldiers keep shooting but the undead just keep coming in, walking in ranks, walking in straight lines. It was like watching million ants attacking a wet sugar cube. Screenshots from the song ' kar chale hum fida' penned by Kaifi Azmi. The song was a sort of sum up of the film. This was the first genuine Indian War film and a conscious effort at that. Some of this conscious effort translated on screen into: A Girl, a Ladakhi, in love with an Indian soldier, a girl trying save her...