Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – The Prodigy of Prodigies

There is a whole spectrum of classical music composers throughout history who have left a deep impact on the fine art of music. Before Mozart, it was Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Haendel, Antonio Vivaldi and Tomaso Albinoni. These were household names. After the birth of Mozart in 1756 in Salzburg Austria, this was one composer who usurped the throne of music from all his predecessors as the never-ending fountain of music, all in the short life span of thirty-four years. His childhood was an exciting one as a child prodigy. From an early age, he had an ambitious thirst for recognition which drove him to the distant courts of Europe from Salzburg, Austria in search of fame and wealth. His family struggled financially in his early years when he was compelled to become a child performer. It was observed that he became an eccentric at an early age. He was a slender and non-descript boy but a soft-spoken musician who had a mischievous glint in his eye. He was liable at any moment to crack a dirty joke or play a prank. All said and done, the compositions he created in his short life were sublime and divinely inspired works of extreme sophistication. He defined an entire age of music history and inspired music composers who followed him. Nearly every opera he wrote premiered to popular and critical acclaim. He also won a vast variety of audiences as a skilled performer on the harpsichord and later, the clavier or the pianoforte. All this was possible because of his prodigious talents. Bulk of his career was spent in the concert halls of Vienna, playing solo concerts of his own planning. His sister was also a talented performer and his father was a skilled musician. The Mozart family was well exposed to European nobility as a result of their extensive travel. This experience allowed his music to become universally acknowledged. His voluminous output includes some of the most sophisticated and complex works of music in the entire history of music. His father, Leopold Mozart, had considerable musical skills. He made a moderate living as a composer and a teacher. He was also a violinist in the court of the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg. He was eventually made the Kapellmeister. He wrote an educational textbook on violin playing which sold successfully. He taught his children several languages along with academic subjects and rounded off their education, giving special time to their prodigious musical talents. Wolfgang, from his childhood, was able to recreate effortlessly musical pieces that he had been taught. He was not only striking the correct chords but he was doing that delicately and with precision. By the age of four, he was able to compose pieces which were approved by his father. His first ever compositions have survived in the form of Nannerl Notenbuch. They were hardly a couple of minutes’ long but they projected a fine understanding of musical composition and theory. They are very significant because a toddler has written them. He took u violin practice at that age and began transcribing new compositions of his own. When his father observed how keenly Wolfgang focused on music, he gave up composing himself and began to focus on teaching his children. Wolfgang suffered serious health scare when he was touring Vienna at the age of seven as he had contracted small pox. He was lucky to survive during that harsh outbreak. He started writing larger music opuses and when he was fourteen; he wrote his first opera - `Mitridate, re di Ponto’. No one has written a full opera at that age. At that age, Mozart had realized that he possessed superior and extraordinary talent. The opera received moderate success. He received commissions to write other operas. The works that followed were Ascanio en Alba and Lucio Silla. Archduke Ferdinand was impressed with these operas when he attended their premieres. He was the Governor of Milan at that time. Wolfgang was appointed court musician at Salzburg to Prince Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. He had no respect for this Archbishop. During this tenure, he wrote several violin concerti. Then, he started writing many piano concerti. Mozart was not satisfied with his pay at the court. He wrote a new opera, La Finta Giardiniera. He wrote his thirteenth opera in 1781, `Idomeneo, re di Creta’. It was performed in Munich and was received successfully. Mozart had always told the world that music written should never be painful to the ear. After leaving the court at Salzburg, Mozart found work in Vienna and achieved success. He started living in a degree of relative comfort. He performed tours as a pianist and a famous tour involved a competition with Muzio Clementi. At the end of that tour, Mozart was hailed as the finest keyboard player in Vienna. He also received regular commissions to compose. In 1782, at the age of 25, he wrote his opera `Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail’. It was among his biggest critical successes and was performed widely all over Europe. During this time, Mozart started a love affair with Aloysia Weber and she had become a famous singer. She ditched him later and married an actor by the name of Joseph Lange. Mozart then turned his attention on her younger sister, Constanze. She became his wife and remained so until his death nine years later. They had six children in these nine years and only two of them survived infancy. With the help of the patronage of Gottfried van Swieten, a Viennese government official, Mozart had access to volumes of scores of Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Frideric Haendel. These studies had a big influence on many of Mozart’s later works as there was a shift in his work to a more Baroque style of writing. The influence is marked in his finest opera, Die Zauberflote, the Mass in C Minor and his last Jupiter symphony # 41. Mozart met Franz Joseph Haydn in the early part of 1784. The two formed a good friendship and collaborated frequently. They often played together in string quartet ensembles. Not many people are aware that Mozart wrote six string quartets that were dedicated to Haydn. Both composers drew inspiration from each other and this is what Haydn had to say about him, “I tell you before God and as an honest man that Mozart is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute; he has taste and what is more, the greatest skill in composition.” We can understand the evolution of the musical style of Mozart by reading one of his diary entries, “It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art comes easy to me. I assure the world that I give much care to the study of composition. There is scarcely a famous master in music whose works I have not frequently and diligently studied.” At his most productive, Mozart in 1785, wrote three new clavier concerti in a season. The success of his concerts and composition commissions afforded his family a degree of wealth that they had not experienced until then. However, the money was spent foolishly and frivolously in this period of financial excess. They moved into a lavish apartment in central Vienna with an annual rent of four hundred florins and their eldest son, Karl Thomas, was sent to an elite boarding school. The family kept several full-time servants. With this extravagant lifestyle, they were not able to save much and this would prove to be serious mistakes made by Mozart. In 1784, he became a Freemason and the institution became important for him for the remainder of his life. He started moving around in Freemasonry circles and attended the lodge meetings regularly. He wrote several compositions for the Masonic Lodge. The most famous piece is a funeral march he composed on the occasion of the death of his Masonic brothers. In 1785, Mozart shifted his focus to operas and wrote The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi fan Tutte. The public reception to these operas was positive, despite the audience finding some parts of the operas complex to follow. He lost his father this year before the premiere of Don Giovanni. The news of his father’s death affected him profoundly. Mozart sought an appointment as Emperor Joseph II’s chamber composer. It gave him an annual income of eight hundred florins. He had to write dances for the annual balls and galas at Hofburg Palace. Mozart and Haydn stand as archetypes of the Classical style in music. It has to be remembered that Mozart began composition of very intricate pieces in an era when the popular genre was `style galant’. This style was a reaction to the Baroque period style. Music in that age was embellished and defined by ornamentation or complicated measures inserted throughout a piece of music. Popular musical forms included cantatas and sonatas. Baroque music was also defined by its seriousness. Many consider it unpleasant to listen to. Style galant depended on its being light-hearted and its vast range of appeal. Mozart’s prodigious bloodline and his worldly education allowed him to evolve into one of the classical masters in history. Once in his diary, he wrote, “Show the whole world that you are not afraid; be silent, if you choose but when it is necessary – speak in such a way that people will remember it.” People forget that behind the beauty of the creations of Mozart, there was a man full of pain who was at the mercy of same joys and sorrows as any other human. As far as his physical appearance went, he was rather averagely built and gave no indication about the genius that lay within him. His hair was light. He was not tall but had large, expressive eyes. His face was scarred and pitted due to a bout of smallpox that he had as a child when he was eleven. He was soft-spoken but mischievous and with a good sense of humour. While at work in the court, he had a reputation of being a practical jokester. He was deeply fond of scatological or toilet humour. Mozart had a keen interest in the fashion of his day in terms of clothes. He had an extravagant wardrobe of fashionable clothes. His hobbies included dancing and billiards. For a while, he got interested in fencing. He had a special fondness for animals and kept multiple pets at home. He had a dog, a horse and different kinds of birds. Concerning his work ethics, he always composed several drafts before he settled on a final product. He wrote once in his diary on why he wrote simple and recognizable tunes, “The golden mean, the truth, is no longer recognized or valued. To win applause, one must write stuff so simple that a coachman might sing it, or so incomprehensible that it pleases simply because no sensible man can comprehend it.” As the 1780s were drawing to a close, the financial situation of the Mozart family was worsening. He produced his final three symphonies in such a situation. In 1789, he wrote an opera, Cosi fan Tutte. In 1791, in the months leading up to his death, h wrote the liturgical motet Ave Verum Corpus and Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) and his incomplete Requiem. In September 1791, Mozart fell seriously ill while attending the premiere of his opera, `La Clemenza di Tito’ in Prague. By November, he was bedridden. He used to suffer with considerable physical pain along with swelling and bouts of vomiting. He was suffering with uremia and kidney disease. In his last days, Mozart was looked after by his wife and his sister and his family physician. Even with his suffering, he tried his level best to complete his Requiem. He died on 5th December, 1791. It is pure myth that Antonio Salieri poisoned him out of jealousy. That was not the case! However, it is true that Mozart had premonitions about his death a month before he passed away. The parish register records registering his death stated kidney disease and swelling, suggesting a compromised immune system. Mozart had become a living legend in his own lifetime; he is the prime example of being a Prodigy of Prodigies! Ludwig van Beethoven, despite Haydn being his tutor, besides admiring Haydn hailed Mozart once in his diary and wrote, “I have always reckoned myself among the greatest admirers of Mozart and shall do so till the day of my death.” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart summed up every important trait of the Classical musical style. His approach to music composition and his innovative style of writing influenced all his successors for a long, long time. There was a stage play by an English playwright, Peter Shaffer, called `Amadeus’. It was turned into an important film by Milos Forman. Though the film depicted many scenes surrounding the life of Mozart effectively, I am not one of the followers of the theory of Antonio Salieri poisoning Mozart out of envy and I did not like Tom Hulce portraying Mozart as a naughty buffoon. To summarise, the unique childhood of this composer contributed very strongly to his musical style and the influence he commanded. He mixed around with several musicians and artists from the European continent. Many of them had well-situated social connections and court appointments, while others challenged his methods of writing and exposed him to new styles and genres for creating music. Mozart died a premature death at the age of thirty-five, cutting short a productive period in his career as a music composer and leaving his Requiem unfinished. One thing is certain; that after his death, he was admired and recognized throughout the world. His legacy will live on in every new wave of musical transition.

The Spread of Freemasonry in India

The history of Freemasonry dates back several hundreds of years. Recently, the credit for introducing India to the freemasonry cult goes to writers like Dan Brown and Ashwin Sanghi. The Freemasons belong to a secret society right from the period of King Solomon. They are often compared with the infamous Illuminati group which is believed to be trying to dominate the world. What is the aim of Freemasonry? The Freemasons pledge to be good citizens by practicing the highest moral and social standards in friendship, charity and integrity. They try to encourage their members or brethren to serve their own community in order to exemplify that they are a society of upright men. They are believers in one God or ‘Father of Universe’ and they go by the motto of ‘brotherly love, relief and truth’. Freemasonry came into India through the British and the Scots. The Grand Lodge of England elected a Grandmaster after a meeting of London’s local lodges in 1717. A united constitution was then drawn up and came into recognition by all the lodges there. The Worshipful Master was elected in a democratic tradition. He was then authorized to select his team of officers, starting from Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Senior and Junior Deacon, Inner Guard and Outer Guard (Tyler). In 1729, a petition was proposed by few brethren in India to set up a Grand Lodge in Calcutta. A Provincial Grandmaster was appointed to oversee Masonic activity in India and the Far East in 1728. It took the next forty-seven years for an Indian to become the first Mason. He was Umdat-ul-Umrah. He was followed by P.C. Dutt. Eventually, the Grand Lodge of India was born in 1895. Since then, Freemasonry did grow in India and one hundred and twelve years later, there are 380 lodges in 140 locations all over the country. There are about twenty thousand Freemasons in India. In Hyderabad, Freemasonry started in October 1988 with the lodge meeting in the upper storey of the existing Goshamahal Baradari. This building was used prior to this event as a military barrack. This was the birth of Lodge Hyderabad, Lodge Deccan and Lodge Morland. In 1912, The Nizam of Hyderabad, Asaf Jah VI, Mahboob Ali Pasha granted a sum of Rupees ten thousand to create a nucleus fund for building a Masonic temple and this work was carried out by Right Worshipful Brother Terence Keyes, the British Resident in Hyderabad.

The Art Story of John Constable

He was an English painter. He was born on 11th June 1776 in East Bergholt, Suffolk, England and died on 31st March 1837 in London. He revolutionised landscape painting of the nineteenth century along with J.M.W. Turner. His paintings had a far reaching impact on European art, especially in France. He turned away from the idealised landscapes that were an expected norm during his times and preferred realistic depiction of the natural world around him through a close and keen observation. He is remembered for his pastoral images, in and around Stour Valley. He is also remembered for his portraits that are more than hundred in number. He has left behind a large number of preparatory sketches that were often completed in oil. He experimented in these sketches with a free style of representation which allowed him to capture the effects of elementary changes in the countryside quite spontaneously, which he was able to transfer to the finished works. At close observation, his sketches are actually impressionistic, carrying less detail than his display canvases. The bottom line is that he managed to depict the scenery, which he captured in a realistic manner. Constable said, “Landscape is my mistress, ‘tis to her that I look for fame and all that the warmth of the imagination renders dear to Man.” Constable used colour more than what his contemporaries did. He wanted to reflect the hues that he would find in nature. He is recognized for his addition of pure white highlights that represented the sparkle of light on water. Constable was always fascinated by the changing patterns of clouds and light and he wanted to capture these moments in his oil sketches. He worked with loose and large brushstrokes to represent an overall sense of what he actually observed and experienced. His work can actually be described as a precursor to the Impressionist art that followed three decades later. He abandoned the conservative and invisible brushstrokes that were expected in Academic art of that period. He decided to apply paint in a large range of ways that included even a palette knife to give his canvases an imperfect and textured finish that went on to boost their realism. Dedham Vale (1802) is one of Constable’s first major paintings. He was only twenty-six when he created it. This painting illustrates his commitment to his keen powers of observation of nature by the details rendered of the sky and the trees. Your eye is led through the painting from the foreground along the river route to the distant town of Dedham Church, which forms a focal point for this work. The trees on both sides of the canvas form a central focus of this image. These experiences may have formed a crucial part of Constable’s childhood. He made another painting in 1828, twenty-six years later and called it `The Vale of Dedham’. He included few figures in that painting. He made another masterpiece in 1821 - `The Hay Wain’. This is perhaps his most celebrated work. River Stour is depicted in it as it divides the counties of Essex and Suffolk. The cottage of Willy Lott stands to the left. The cart is standing in a small pond. The image displays serenity by means of the colour palette. The blue of the sky is reflected in the tones of the water. The terracotta of the house is reflected in the harness of the horse. The green of the vegetation in the meadow also stands out. Hay Wain is glorifying nature without much exaggeration. Another noteworthy masterwork of Constable is his `Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows’ of 1837. This is the last of his large six-foot canvases and he considered it as his finest work. The sky is depicted as a violent one and the rainbow adds to the drama. He used the rainbow effectively in another great work of his - `The Stonehenge’ of 1835. It is a symbol of hope in the Romantic Movement for painters. Constable wrote, “Nature, in all the varied aspects of her beauty, exhibits no other feature lovelier nor any that awakens a more soothing reflection than the rainbow.” The rainbow helps in heightening the drama in the blustery sky. Constable is known for realistic depictions of the natural world. He rejected the styles that were contemporary in his days for landscapes, stating that “the vices of the present day are bravura; it is an attempt to do something beyond the truth.” He created his own distinct style of representation that was based on transferring what he saw amidst nature as truthfully as possible to a canvas.

How is India managing its tigers and their need for natural habitat?

Not many people are aware in this world that India gives shelter to more than sixty per cent of the planet’s population of tigers. Is the country really sheltering and nurturing its tigers? This is a matter of much contemplation and debate. What are the major hurdles faced in conserving the growth of tigers in India? Loss of habitat and poaching remain major obstacles. Tigers continue to face threat and extinction from loss of natural habitat and the wicked machinations of the poachers; all in the name of development. However, forty nine years ago, a project was initiated and it was called `Management Effectiveness and Evaluation of Tiger Reserves’. This was part of a grand scheme known as `Project Tiger.’ This project is aimed to safeguard the population of Bengal tigers in natural habitat. It has also helped in preserving regions of biological importance as part of a natural heritage connected with a diversity of ecosystems across tiger distribution in India. There are forty-seven tiger reserves in India and they are all necessary for the survival of this wonderful species. These reserves are not being monitored just for the terms of the tiger count and population growth; but also for the health of the tiger habitat and even prey population, which is very essential for its survival. In 2014, an additional program was launched towards this aim – it was the NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority). (1) Why has the tiger population dwindled in the last three centuries in India? The population of tigers dwindled in India in the last three hundred years primarily owing to the fact that India was colonised by the East India Company (the British Raj) and most of the people in powerful positions during this regime were fond of hunting and killing not only tigers but many wildlife species. Then human greed and wickedness played its part in the shape of poachers who hunted these tigers for the sake of trade. The poachers are after the tigers on account of their body parts, ranging from the whiskers to the tail. The third important factor is that urbanisation spread its roots into forest and jungle regions, forcing the tigers to face heavy losses in their natural habitat and their marked territories. Their habitats have been invaded and encroached upon in a big way as selfish and greedy humans have cut down forest areas to satisfy their personal needs. Forests were turned gradually into agricultural lands and timber goldmines. This led to a major conflict between humans and tigers as it boiled down to a fierce competition for their own spaces. Another major and the fourth factor in the decline of tiger population over a span of three centuries is prey depletion. It is a well known fact that tigers decline in numbers as a result of prey depletion as against being killed. A tiger, in order to stay healthy and fit, needs to eat about six thousand pounds worth of living prey each year. If he prey base is sufficient and protection measures are good, then tiger population will thrive as this species breeds at a rapid rate. The fifth factor that affects tiger population and its decline is the ever present risk of climate change. The rising sea levels on this planet as an effect of global warming are indirectly playing their part in wiping out fertile regions in India like the Sundarban forests. Mangrove trees are being damaged and they happen to be the largest shelters for tiger habitat, particularly of Bengal tigers. Forests do have substantial diversity of wildlife and when they get affected in a negative way, it indirectly affects all species, living in that particular region. It comes as a shock to students of environmental protection studies that the number of Bengal tigers has dropped by more than sixty-five per cent since the advent of the twentieth century. In the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, tigers were able to roam freely not only across India but in most Asian regions; but today, they are restricted to just about ten per cent of their original range, both in grasslands and in isolated forests. As habitats are shrinking with each passing day, India is finding it hard to manage the survival and thriving of the big cats. So, to summarise, it was the British and the Indian royal perverts who were responsible for the speedy decline in tiger population. Secondly, it was the demand for tiger body parts by the Chinese, who are rich and can pay anything for such rarity that drew the poachers to hunt the tigers. Last, but not the least of the reasons was loss of habitat due to overpopulation of the two-legged species. While all conservation efforts are being focused at increasing the count of tigers in India, global experts are suggesting that India will have to prepare for an unexpected challenge of reaching the limits of its project’s management capacity. As of 2014, India had 2,225 tigers. The Head of the Global Tiger Forum feels that India’s current capacity to host the big cats ranges from 2,500 to 3,000. Another official from the forum also feels that almost 35% of the tiger population in India has now started living outside of those protected reserves. These officials have pointed out that there were various challenges apart from the dwindling of core forest areas along with the simultaneous shrinking of the tiger corridors or those strips of land which allow the tigers to move freely across varied habitat. To add to such woes, we also face the issues of man-animal conflict and poaching. These are all hurdles to achieving success in the goal of tiger conservation. Despite these hurdles, statistics present a different and an optimistic picture of the growth in tiger population in India. In 2006, India had only 1,410 tigers and this rose to 2,225 in 2014. There is not much doubt that this was possible on account of enhanced conservation measures and revised and innovative estimation methods. (2). How can we go about conserving tigers and their growth in numbers? Steps were taken almost fifty years ago in India with the initiation of Project Tiger. This was a distinguished plan to save tigers, not only in India but on the whole planet. In 1973, there were only nine tiger reserves, to begin with. Five decades later, that figure has grown to fifty-one. How can natural habitats be conserved? They can be conserved by not cutting down forests for man’s business needs and greed. We can all start helping protect our forests and, at the same time, saving natural habitats of tigers. We can start showing preference for sanctuaries or reservoirs over zoos. Wildlife sanctuaries offer larger spaces and when they are amidst nature; tigers feel very much at home than being caged in zoos. This is the reason why we have to encourage in preserving more natural reservoirs and sanctuaries in order to protect biodiversity. Let us all try and allow the tigers in India to live happily in natural habitats and let them breed more without fear of losing their territories. Unfortunately, man has never had a dialogue of `live and let live’ with tigers. How can climate changed be controlled and have a bearing on the rearing of tigers? There is all talk and not much real and practical effort to halt the adverse climatic changes. We are silently observing things go from bad to worse in areas of climate change. Drastic increase in environmental heat is melting ice reefs and raising the sea levels to an alarming degree. (3) People of this world are not bothered about any other species except themselves. They are ignoring the fact that tigers may be isolated only in few regions in the world, but they happen to be the largest species of the cat family and, without any doubt, one of the most iconic creatures on Planet Earth. The statistics themselves tell the whole picture of what I am trying to say – about a hundred years ago, there were over a hundred thousand tigers roaming on this planet but now there may not be more five thousand left, all over. There is plenty of work that has to be done in order to preserve and then improve the numbers of tigers on this planet. (4) If we allow the tigers to thrive in their natural habitats, we are indirectly making our ecosystem healthy. India, currently, has habitat potential that will be able to support even ten thousand tigers but the numbers have been low on account of degradation of forests and rapid overlapping of development with lands occupied by tigers. State-wise Performance concerning Project Tiger If we want to see how each state has performed in preserving the growth of the tiger population, maybe seven or eight states have been largely responsible for the steady progress made in this respect while most states have been indifferent and have let down the tigers. They allowed habitat degradation and backed businessmen to take over the forests and drive the animals away. Greed is the only answer for the reason behind this act. (5)(Refer Chart on State-wise Bengal Tiger Population in India) The South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are home to nearly 40% of elephants, 35% of tigers and around 30% of leopards in the whole country. The Northeast states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, West Bengal and Tripura account for 5% of tigers and 30% of elephants in the country. The national parks in the country are Category II protected areas that fall under IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The first national park was established in India in 1936 and that was the Hailey National Park which later on went on to become Corbett National Park (named after Jim Corbett). It is in the state of Uttarakhand. By the year 1970, five national parks were set up and they were followed three years later by the launching of the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger. These goals were meant to safeguard the habitats of tiger species in India. Good work has gone behind conservation in the past fifty years as we now have five hundred and fifty wildlife sanctuaries in the country which cover close to 120,000 square kilometers. Among these are fifty-one tiger reserves which fall under the governance of Project Tiger and they are particularly significant towards the conservation of the Bengal Tiger. The government of India has set up eighteen biosphere reserves. This has been done to protect vast areas of natural habitat and they are not similar to animal sanctuaries or national parks. These reserves have been established along with buffer zones which are open to economic uses. Protection is not only given to the tiger population but also to the fauna and flora of these regions and to the human communities that inhabit these places. Significance of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve under the Project Tiger Scheme Sundarban was considered under Project Tiger in the inauguration year, 1973. It was one of the first among nine Tiger Reserves declared under the Project Tiger scheme that year. The National Park area of the Tiger Reserve is a natural World Heritage Site as declared in 1987. The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve is a part of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, which is one of the few globally recognised Biosphere Reserves in the country. It was declared as a Biosphere Reserve in 1989. It makes up over 60% of the total mangrove forest area in the entire country and has 90% of the total Indian mangrove species. The Sundarbans has been classified as a Tiger Conservation Landscape of global priority, as it is the only mangrove habitat (along with Bangladesh), that supports a significant tiger population. (6) The Tiger Reserve is home to a large number of endangered and globally threatened species like the tiger, fishing cat, estuarine crocodile, Gangetic and Irrawaddy dolphins, king cobra and water monitor lizards. It also gives harbour to river terrapins that have become extinct from all other regions of the world. Sundarbans is also the nesting ground for marine turtles like Olive Ridley, Green Sea Turtle and Hawksbill Turtle. The mangroves serve as garden centres to shell fish and fin-fishes and maintain the coastal fisheries of the whole east coast of India. It is considered as a kingfisher's paradise as out of a dozen species of kingfishers found in the country, ten species are found here. Also found are a couple of species of horse shoe crabs (they are considered as living fossils dated at over four hundred million years). The mangrove forests also act as an innate shelter belt and shield the surrounding environment from storms, cyclones, sea-water seepage and incursions. What are the challenges faced in managing the Sundarbans Reserve? The boundary poses a problem as it is shared with Bangladesh. The next issue is the staff strength which is inadequate, facing almost a fifty per cent vacancy in frontline staff deployment. There is a significant biotic pressure on these forests by the villagers dwelling at its perimeters for wood as fuel, crab collection, catching of fish and tiger prawn seeds. This cannot be helped as the socio-economic condition of these villagers is in the low income cadre. Frequent cyclones also pose a threat to this reserve on account of climate change and global warming. To add to these woes, staff confronts tigers’ straying from their territories with imminent conflicts with humans. It has to be noted that this is a difficult terrain of a corrosive nature and with unstable soil. Prospects The entire reserve is quite well demarcated with its natural boundary, making a vast majority of the area encroachment free. The whole area gets inundated on a daily basis on account of the tidal fluctuation, reducing the risk of forest fire. As there is diverse presence of species, the region is also grazing free. There is plenty of scope for growth and development in eco-tourism in this permitted zone. The chart below will give a fair idea about how this reserve has thrived – (7)(Refer Chart in Annexure concerning increasing population of tigers in Sundarbans Tiger Reserve) Valmik Thapar’s take on what is really happening concerning the Indian tiger scene Valmik Thapar is one India’s foremost recognized conservationist and a wildlife expert. His writings have captured and analysed the shortcomings and the partial failure of `Project Tiger’ that was created by the government as a conservation apparatus. We can look at his writings as a critique and understand the issues of mismanagement by forest departments and their bureaucracy, mainly on account of the staff not being scientifically trained in relevant skills. Oxford University Press has published a book written by him called ‘The Last Tiger’ that spells out a strong case about the shortcomings of Project Tiger. Thapar has spent several decades following the country’s fortunes in preserving the growth of the tiger population in the country. We cannot deny the hard work he has put in as a steward of the `Ranthambore Foundation’. He became a member of the `Tiger Task Force’ in 2005. This scheme was also initiated by the Government of India. In his report, he expressed his disagreement at the entire approach of the forces that managed Project Tiger. He criticised even the Tiger Task Force and pointed out that it was diplomatically focused on prospecting towards co-existence of humans and tigers. In his view, he maintained that it was not consistent with the main objectives of the scheme. He also felt that the Task Force never paid proper attention to bigger questions facing conservation of tigers by neglecting the menace of poaching and absence of science with hurdles to research work as posed by bureaucracies. Thapar’s writings have analysed the shortcomings of Project Tiger. He felt that it was mismanaged by bureaucratic forest departments who were equipped with staff that was not scientifically trained. Thapar has been recognized for his selfless work done for the conservation of tigers in India and his strong bonds with several tigresses, such as `Macchli’ and `T-24’, as is gathered by some of his chronicles. While India’s population has doubled from 630 million to 1.4 billion, the tigers have just gone from a mere 1,800 in 1973 to around 4,000 currently. It is sad to note that several tiger reserves such as Dampha, Buxa, Periyar and Palamau have very few tigers left. A tiger reserve like Mukundra is now declared tiger-less. Thapar has been shouting from the rooftops that flawed policies need to be addressed. He maintains that the number of tigers will grow with adequate regeneration of habitat and field protection, with minimal human use. The real increase in tiger numbers has taken place in states like Maharashtra who have done commendable work – the Tadoba Tiger near Nagpur reserve is a case in example. This is because of better connectivity between tiger habitats with restored strips. The state government is following an imaginative policy in the form of village relocation and meeting the demands of villagers to relocate to other and better lands for their economic stability. Thapar felt that the tiger gets overhyped in India as it commands attention of the public from all over the world. The fact that cannot be overlooked is that almost seven hundred million people go to see tigers in zoos. While trying to preserve tigers in India, Thapar said that other species such as birds and smaller mammals are being neglected. Schemes are under way now to preserve dolphins in the Gangetic belt. Work is being done also on leopards, lions and great Indian bustards. However, problems surmount as much of the forest governing bureaucracy is actually ignorant to the real needs of wildlife. As per Thapar, only two states have done selfless work towards tiger preservation and they are Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Maharashtra has initiated the `Jan Vaan Vikas Yojana’ (Man-Tiger Co-Existence Scheme) while Rajasthan has initiated the `Vaan Dhan Yojana’ (Tiger Wealth Scheme). These state strategies, he feels, could mitigate conflicts between tiger landscapes and people effectively. Minimum interference by the Central Government and more power to the State Governments is the best way forward as per Thapar for maintaining healthier statistics for tigers. More participation of the younger generation of people from the non-governmental sectors will be essential to bolster positive change and new concepts. Thapar laments that Vanyavilas and Ranthambore National Parks have experienced rapid dwindling of tiger numbers. He also mourns the state of affairs at Corbett Park in Uttar Pradesh. The tiger tales of Jim Corbett have remained legends and just that. The poachers have left nothing much for the coming generations. (8) Billy Arjan Singh’s Conservation Efforts His efforts towards conservation of wildlife are well known as he successfully reintroduced tigers and leopards into the wild regions of Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh, India. He started all this in 1973 (The same year as the initiation of Project Tiger) by nurturing an orphaned male cub of a leopard and called him `Prince’. He subsequently brought up two orphaned female leopard cubs so that he would be able to provide opportunity of mating at a later date. The female cubs were named Juliette and Harriet. Three years later, in 1976, he again introduced a female tiger cub that was hand-reared and named her `Tara’. He had picked her up from Twycross Zoo in England. She was reintroduced into the wild regions of Dudhwa National Park with a sanction from then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Billy Arjan Singh has always kept a close eye on the mating and growth of these tigers and leopards since then. He has taken the help of CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology) in Hyderabad, then Andhra Pradesh State by sending hair samples and getting them analysed using mitochondrial sequence analysis. The results that were achieved after such an analysis brought out facts that the mitochondrial haplo-type suggested that some mothers were Bengal tigresses while others would suggest that several tigers had alleles in a couple of loci, contributed by Siberian and Bengal tiger subspecies. Epilogue Despite what the optimism is about the conservation of tigers in India, I will lament on their dwindling number when compared with the figures of a century ago. I visited Corbett Park, Vanyavilas and the Ranthambore National Park. I was disappointed by their actual numbers there; the only place that gave me a gleam of hope was Tadoba National Park in Maharashtra. When I was at Corbett Park, Uttar Pradesh in 2007, I was excited and hoped to come across at least one tiger during my stay there for three days. I came back disappointed for I saw none. There were pugmarks at some places or were they? I am not alone in this; there have been several people like me who have come back from these parks disillusioned with zero sighting. The tiger tales of Corbett have remained just legends and nothing more than that. The poachers have left nothing much for the coming generations. The reality is that actual number of tigers is falling rapidly in India. One of my friends has recently sighted a tiger in Nagzira and the Koka Forest. Elsewhere in Ranthambore, big cats were sighted in Rajasthan. Was I plain unlucky or the others have been smarter than me? India has always been famous for the Taj Mahal and the Bengal Tiger. The Taj Mahal is easy enough but the Bengal Tiger is pretty elusive. Sooner than you expect, this magnificent tiger will probably disappear from the face of the planet Earth. I wonder if there are more than five thousand tigers left on earth today. I curse the bloody British/Nawabs/Rajahs and their hunting expeditions, the evil poachers and the encroachment of people into the animal habitats which have collectively taken their toll on this now rare species in India. In the distant future, the coming generations in India will only be able to see tigers in tiger tale books and this animal will join the myth and folklore species. Coming to grips with the current situation, if you are planning a vacation to look out for tigers, perhaps Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan may be the place to go for or the Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Nagpur, Maharashtra. You may be able to catch a face to face situation and realize that you managed to look at a big cat before it went extinct. In the pre-independence era, tiger hunts were considered fashionable with the British officers and the elite of the Indian society. They perhaps still are with the Bollywood eunuchs. These hunts provided entertainment for the Maharajas. Even after independence, hunts were organized when the Royalty visited. One specific extravagant hunt was organized in 1961 by Maharani Gayatri Devi for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip when the royal couple visited Jaipur. It took twenty five years for an independent nation to initiate a nationwide ban on tiger hunting. The Wildlife Protection Act came into being in 1972. It became illegal to hunt tigers or take ownership of their body parts. The Tiger Task Force was set up in 1973 and, at first; nine forests were declared as tiger reserves. Will any poacher or any Wildlife Preservation Organizations rise and look the culprits if they are asked about the tiger being declared as an endangered animal in India? Why are tigers so important for this planet? This is mainly because tigers are apex predators in the food chain and it goes a long way in keeping our environment lively and healthy. This is the way things work in a natural way in wildlife regions. Predators are as important as the prey they depend on. To give an example, herbivores or plant-eaters such as deer are principal consumers in the food chain; but, without enough tigers to eat the deer, herbivores are more than likely to start overgrazing and can begin to damage land environment, resulting in the disruption of balance of nature in a local environment. We all know that local human population depends largely on a healthy environment for its food and water supply and various other resources, additionally. Hence, by protecting tigers and their growth in numbers, we also help in taking care of the regions where they inhabit and this is essential for everyone’s good in that particular region.

Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh

Often, a work of art becomes so intensely famous that it can obscure people to its original meaning and context. This is the case with Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh. The version that is in the National Gallery in London was painted by Van Gogh in Arles in August 1888 in Southern France. Fifteen sunflowers spring out of a quaint earthenware pot with a background that is blazing yellow. Some of the flowers may be found to be perky and fresh and they are surrounded by halos of petals that resemble a flame; while others are beginning to droop. This is a powerful painting. Van Gogh has used just three tints of yellow and has achieved total harmony with that stroke. This simple motif has appealed in a profound way to many people. Van Gogh started painting still of flowers in order to experiment mainly with colour. Another motivation was that flowers’ stills sold well, commercially. He got inspired to introduce more colour into those stills after observing the colourful and fresh paintings of the Impressionists like Renoir and Monet in Paris, France. He began these stills with traditional colours, but as he progressed; he experimented with extreme contrasts in colour. The flowers’ painting that has been placed in National Gallery in London since 1924 has become so popular that more than twenty-six thousand postcards have been sold from among the entire collection of sunflowers painted by Van Gogh. Actually, many among the five million people who visit National Gallery every year are not aware that this painting belongs to a series of four sunflower stills which Van Gogh made in less than a week’s time during summer of 1888. He did those indoors as cold northerly winds restricted him from working outdoors. The first among this collection now belongs to a private owner. It has three orange-yellow blooms in a green-glazed pot that is set against a turquoise background. It was last shown in public in 1948 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The second among this collection has three flowers in a pot along with three more lying on the table in the foreground. This is set in front of a wall with royal blue colour. This particular painting was partially destroyed during the American bombardment of Ashiya, a Japanese town, in 1945. This painting is quite similar to the one that is placed in the National Gallery but it has fourteen sunflowers with turquoise background and it has now been placed in Neue Pinakothek Gallery in Munich, Germany. After these four sunflowers were executed, Van Gogh created three more variations or replicas; one of them has been loaned by Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to the National Gallery in London. The first sunflower was painted during the summer of 1886 and a couple of years later; he began painting sunflowers to brighten up his collection. His contemporaries were working on all kinds of flowers but he chose to go with sunflowers. Other painters may have thought that sunflowers would look unrefined or coarse. Van Gogh wanted that coarse touch in his work. They went on to become his signature work and Van Gogh realized that he had finally created something very important and was glad that he did not paint hollyhocks or peonies. He managed to work with a resonant motif, that he could call his own.

Zubin Mehta A Musical Journey [Source Extracts: Bakhtiar. K. Dadabhoy]

This bio sketch covers almost six decades of the Maestro’s life. Not many people are aware of a unique achievement of Zubin and that was to conduct two principal orchestras in North America simultaneously (in Montreal and Los Angeles). He was also the youngest conductor in history to be featured on the cover of `Time’ magazine. He was just thirty-one then. He has been conducting since 1961 and it is now sixty-one years he has been on the podium. His health has been indifferent since the past couple of years and now he is unable to conduct while standing. He has to sit in a chair and conduct like Klemperer and Celibidache. The only conductor who in his nineties is still active on his feet is Blomstedt. Zubin Mehta has had the privilege of working with distinguished artistes and orchestras in his long career. He had a long standing relationship as Music Director for Life with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, right from 1969 until a couple of years ago, when he retired from that position. The baton that is held by a modern conductor has been credited largely to Ludwig Spohr who was a violinist and a conductor. He had initially used the violin bow and then shifted to holding a roll of stiff paper for keeping time. Eventually, he introduced the modern baton in 1817 in Hamburg. The cult of a virtuoso conductor was, at first, viewed with suspicion; but now, it is there to stay. The conductor, particularly a model such as Wilhelm Furtwangler, has emerged as a person who interprets the whole orchestral music completely and controls all individual skills of his ensemble. Music notation is an inexact art and instructions on a music score are subject to different interpretations. Leonard Bernstein said, “A conductor is a sculptor whose element is time rather than marble; and while sculpting, he has to have a superior sense of both relationship and proportion.” All teachers in the art of conducting feel that a good conductor will have a proper blend of knowing how much to prod and when to leave the members alone. The founder of modern conducting was the Hungarian Artur Nikisch. Zubin Mehta studied under Hans Swarowsky in Vienna and made his debut in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1961. He also took training as a contrabassist. He has retained his Indian passport while holding a dual citizenship of the United States of America. He was born in Bombay, India on 29th April 1936. This also happened to be the day Arturo Toscanini conducted his last performance with New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He was originally being groomed for the medical profession. His father, Mehli Mehta was an amateur musician, violinist and conductor but professionally, he was an accountant. It was his father who honed Zubin’s talent and his mother, Tehmina, who gave him encouragement to leave Medicine as vocation and take up music studies. He studied at Campion School in Bombay, India as well as St. Mary’s at Mazagaon in Bombay. `Zubin’ in Gujarati means a powerful sword. Zubin shares his birthday – 29th April with two great English conductors, Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent. Young Days The Parsis in India embraced Western Classical music more than they did Indian Classical music. In 1922, J.B. Petit, a Parsi philanthropist, funded the first symphony orchestra in Bombay and a chamber orchestra at the same time. Most of the initial musicians were Goans and the audiences were, of course, mostly Parsis. In the 1940s, a prominent lawyer of India, Nani Palkhivala played violin in the Bombay Symphony Orchestra that was directed by Mehli Mehta. He taught himself the art of playing the violin. In 1935, when Anna Pavlova toured Bombay, she relied on Bombay Symphony Orchestra to add to the ensemble she was touring with and it was Mehli Mehta who played all the solos in the performances in Bombay of Adam’s Giselle and Glazunov’s Raymonda. A Dutch musician who was living in Bombay, Jules Craen, was a big support to Mehli Mehta in managing the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. Early Training During his early training days, Zubin became friends with Daniel Barenboim. This was a friendship that began when Daniel was only twelve years of age and was well established as a prodigy. They met at Siena when they were taking training at Accademia Musicale Chigiana. Soon after, Zubin met Claudio Abbado. After taking up the musical directorship for life with Israel Philharmonic in 1969, Zubin supported efforts of Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said towards bringing together Palestinian and young Israeli musicians. The West-Eastern Divan project came to life, then. Among other friends of Zubin during these days were Jacqueline du Pre, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and Placido Domingo. Zubin has another feather in his cap. Karl Bohm handed over the Nikisch Ring in Vienna. His stint with the New York Philharmonic between 1978 and 1991 also happens to be the longest incumbency of any conductor in the history of that orchestra. He achieved instant stardom after his `Three Tenors’ concert in Rome. One of his main adventurous achievements was playing Wagner in Israel, in 1981. His relationship with the New York Philharmonic was not really on amicable terms after his interview with `Newsweek’ when he mentioned that New York was notorious for finishing off careers of many conductors. He apologised to the orchestra management before taking up the assignment but it took several years for the wounds to heal. He noticed during his tenure there that he rarely received good press for his concerts, particularly in his last few years. He also crossed paths with a music critic and correspondent while he was in Los Angeles and that was Martin Bernheimer. Zubin gave his first concert with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1961 when he had to fill in at the last minute for Eugene Ormandy. In 1967, when the six-day war broke out with Palestine, Zubin dropped his engagements in Montreal and flew straight to Tel Aviv to conduct Israel Philharmonic. On this occasion also, he was filling in after the cancellation of Erich Leinsdorf’s visit. His gorgeous looks during his early days of training made him a big hit with women. His aquiline features and his zest for life gave him an appeal of a movie celebrity and a unique cultural icon. He had a charismatic personality and his musical performances were galvanizing, to say the least. While at Los Angeles, he developed a good friendship with Edward. G. Robinson. Taking up the helm at New York City Zubin Mehta succeeded Pierre Boulez at the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in September 1978. At the same time, Zubin was succeeded by Carlo Maria Giulini at Los Angeles. His tenure was extended in 1983 for a further period of seven years. In March of 1984, Zubin had to undergo surgery for lateral epicondylitis. This condition involves severe and chronic inflammation of the muscles which are attached to the elbow. This is akin to a tennis elbow and it results after vigorous hand and arm movements. He had to be hospitalised for a week and had to take rest for a fortnight after the surgery. After recovery, Zubin took the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on a tour of India in September 1984. The tour was a success. Zubin had come to India with an orchestra after seventeen years. I remember that very well as I was present during the Bombay concert and was pleased with the rendition at Shanmukhananda Hall in Matunga. The program included Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances, Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin and Dvorak’s New World Symphony. In June 1988, he took the orchestra to Soviet Union. Three performances were given at Leningrad’s Philharmonic Hall and three at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall. After the Russian tour, the orchestra visited ten other European countries in 1988. Zubin’s contract expired in 1991. His successor was Kurt Masur. Florence, Valencia and Munich Zubin got his contract with Maggio Musicale Fiorentino after New York Philharmonic and he managed to take the orchestra to twelve countries in a span of next twenty years. While conducting Wagner’s Ring with Valencia Community Orchestra, Zubin paid a great tribute to Wilhelm Furtwangler. He was an admirer of Furtwangler and of the latter’s philosophy of searching for deep messages between the music sheets. Zubin mentioned that Furtwangler had inspired all his players to give something over and above the score and their normal abilities and how Furtwangler had made every concert of his an emotionally intense experience for himself and his audience.

Charles Dickens – A Novelist of Substance

Dickens is remembered as a novelist who established his reputation during his lifetime and it now one and a half century since he has left us; his works remain as masterpieces among creations in English literature. We cannot forget dialogues like “Please Sir, may I have some more?” from Oliver Twist or “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” from A Tale of Two Cities. Most of his creations have been adapted into cinema screenplays or television drama series. They were also adapted for the stage during his lifetime. The Christmas Carol gets performed year after year. When he was twelve, he worked in a shoe-blacking factory while his father was put in prison for outstanding debts. Dickens was always observant, even as a child and was able to create characters of a dramatic nature by means of his close scrutiny of people around him. The people he knew inspired almost all his characters that he wrote about. His sister’s four-year old boy who was a cripple turned into Tiny Tim of A Christmas Carol. His childhood love, Maria Beadnell turned into Flora Finching of Little Dorrit. Dickens was impulsive and hot-headed but never allowed his nature to get the better of him. He always wanted to bring about change for the good in the society that he lived in. He loved theatre right from his childhood and was always unsuccessful in his love affairs. He survived a train accident and was very concerned about how man exploited his own species and brought about poverty. He helped raise the genre of English novel writing to popular heights. He recalled his work in the blacking factory and wrote in his diary, “No words can express the secret agony of my soul... the sense I had of being utterly neglected and hopeless; of the shame I felt in my position … my whole nature was penetrated with grief and humiliation.” He was born on 7th February 1812. His full name was Charles John Huffman Dickens. His mother, Elizabeth Dickens had a good sense of humour, a pleasant personality and was well educated. His father, John, was in the Navy but lived beyond his means and put himself into serious debts. Charles started reading classics at the tender age of five. His first back was Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. An early favourite of his was the compilation of Arabian Nights. He was also introduced to Shakespeare’s plays by the local theatre in Kent. One of the first plays that Charles Dickens wrote when he was just nine was ‘Misnar – the Sultan of India’. His father was arrested and put in prison when Charles was only twelve. At that age, Charles helped his family survive by pawning their possessions – furniture and books. He was lucky to be given work at the blacking factory. He had to label pots of boot and shoe blacking. With the help of his friend, he got a membership to the reading room of the British Museum and spent much of his spare time there. In 1830, he met Maria Beadnell at that place and courted her, hoping to marry her someday. Her parents rejected him because of his family’s financial situation. He eventually lost her as she married someone else. Dejected in love, he published his first short piece of fiction which he called, `A Dinner at Poplar Walk’. It was an achievement that he was proud of, later in life. His next big work was `The Strange Gentleman’. He courted and got married to Catherine Hogarth in April 1836. After the wedding, he started work on his first major success, the `Pickwick Papers’. The next year, Charles and Catherine had their first child, a son. Dickens started work on `Oliver Twist’. Catherine suffered with depressive bouts after childbirth. Charles also had indifferent health. He sorted out his health problems by taking long walks in the countryside for fresh air. This period in his life saw him move up in life, both socially and economically. During this time, he developed a strong bond with John Forster and Dickens started sharing his deepest thoughts and his feelings with him. The two men became companions while walking, riding and attending the theatre. Forster became a literary agent for Dickens. After Oliver Twist, Dickens started work on `Nicholas Nickleby’. This novel went a long way in attracting attention of the readers towards the dismal conditions at schools for orphans and illegitimate children in Yorkshire. In 1838, Charles and Catherine had a second child, a daughter. The next year, they had their third child, a daughter again. He had to move into a larger house in Devonshire. He started work on a new project and named it `Barnaby Rudge’. Heavy workload started telling on his health. He started work on a new novel, ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’. This novel brought him impressive popularity. It was hailed as a masterpiece. The theme of the protagonist’s death (Nell) struck a deep chord with the audiences of his times and infant mortality rate had already become a personal tragedy experience for most in England. His next important work was ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’. Sales of this work were dismal. However, he did not lose hope and started work on his next project – A Christmas Carol. This story and Ebenezer Scrooge in particular captured the attention of the audiences and the book has remained among the most popular works of Dickens for over fifteen decades now. Dickens went on to write two more stories related with Christmas time. They were `The Chimes’ and `Cricket on the Hearth’. Dickens wrote a pensive preface to another masterpiece of his, `David Copperfield’. “An author feels as though he were dismissing some portion of himself into the shadowy world, when a crowd of the creatures of his brain are going from him forever.” This novel contains many autobiographical elements. During the summer of 1846, Dickens began work on `Dombey and Son’ in Switzerland. He was living in Lausanne at that time. After that he wrote another Christmas Novella and called it `The Haunted Man’. The story is quite interesting – a chemist is troubled by painful memories and he accepts a ghost’s offer to remove his memories and allow him to remove those of everyone he meets. The story has a strong underlying message of tolerance and forgiveness. In 1851, after enjoying the success of `David Copperfield’, Dickens wrote a satirical essay, “A Child’s History of England”. In 1852, he started work on another novel, `Bleak House’. This work focused on the inefficiency of the Chancery and the problems it caused. It was filled with dark cynicism. He followed this work with `Hard Times’ and `Little Dorrit’. On a personal front, Dickens lost in his wife and children and became selfish and indifferent. However, he kept himself engrossed while reading his works. It fit into his love of the theatre and gave him an opportunity to enact all his characters and gave them personality and voices. He enjoyed this experience and he became popular doing it. He went on tour through major cities from Dublin to Edinburgh and London and Manchester. In April 1859, he started writing `A Tale of Two Cities’. The plot for this book was inspired by the drama `the Frozen Deep’ written by Wilkie Collins. Dickens had taken part in that and acted on stage. Dickens had deep interest in the French Revolution after reading Thomas Carlyle’s `History of the French Revolution’. This novel of Dickens is more action-based than most of his other works. His next great work was to be `Great Expectations’. It told the story of the orphan, Pip. Many consider the development of Pip’s character to be the ultimate among authorial achievements of Dickens. Charles Dickens visited the United States of America and did not like the tall buildings of New York City and its garish lights. In 1863, Dickens began work on his last novel, `Our Mutual Friend’. He suffered a stroke in 1866 and after that; his health declined. He had indifferent health for the next three years. He started work on another novel, `The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ but could not finish it and left the ending hanging. He died on 9th June 1870. It is a general consensus in England that after Shakespeare; it was Dickens who was the best known among English authors. His popularity has been great down the ages. His characters have become icons and are remembered to be given attached meanings; for example, `Scrooge’ is associated with miserliness. His works have left their mark on his readers. It has to be mentioned that not all his novels were successes. However, his works have inspired many film adaptations.

Thomas Aquinas : A Rare Theologian

He was among the first who dared to start thinking about philosophical dilemmas that many conservative thinkers feared to even talk about. He lived a life of poverty and never married. His main aim in life was to contemplate about God, the Creator and His creation; and he did this with fine sophistication. His critics were harsh on him and condemned him as an intellectual beggar. Even amidst those cruel attacks on his character and his faith, Thomas Aquinas was always ready for challenges in life and on many occasions; delivered a counter reply in public debates or through theological treatises on spiritual subjects. He never got scared of a duel with the hypocrites and the hollow thinkers. He was always enthusiastic to plunge into the most complex of theological arguments. He got his first formal education at Abbey of Monte Cassino. As a young man, he was always asking this question repeatedly, “What is God?” It looked like a basic question but it was an awe-inspiring one, coming from a young person. These were the kinds of questions that most people, even today, do not bother asking and are afraid to ask. He had this desire to understand the basic factors of creation. His questions did not emit a sign of disbelief in One God or an absence of faith; they were vehicles of taking him closer to both the Creator and His Creation. His questions led to the driving force behind his quest during his life on earth. Though he lived a life of poverty and existed like a monk, he was born into a noble family in 1225. His family lived in Roccasecca in the Aquino region of Sicily, Italy. His father served at the court of King Roger II as a knight. Thomas began his formal education when he was five and he started at the monastery of Monte Cassino. At the age of thirteen, he was already recognized for his philosophical thoughts. He shifted to Naples and went to school at the Studium Generale, a university which was established by Frederick II. Here, he studied the classic works of great philosophers like Averroes, Maimonides and Aristotle. He was also impressed by the monks in Naples and decided that he would also become one as he grew old as he was keen to pursue higher knowledge like them. He felt that it was his true calling in life. He met with disapproval and bitter resentment from his family members. He went on to say things like “One will observe that all things are arranged according to their degrees of beauty and excellence, and that the nearer they are to God; the more beautiful and better they are.” Later on in life, Aquinas described his experience at the University of Naples as a “paradise of God, but inhabited by demons.” He became a pupil at this university of a professor who was known as `Peter of Ireland.” He was actually a Benedictine monk. Aquinas became such a rapid learner that he was able to repeat the lectures his professors taught, nearly verbatim. He was an extraordinary student and also became a charitable young man, always eager to hand over his food to the poor and the needy. He was eighteen years of age when he decided that he would spend his life as a Dominican friar. His model was Saint Francis of Assisi. This idea of his met with great resistance from his father and his family members. The friars, however, admitted him into their ranks even against the wishes of his father. In August 1243, Thomas donned the white robes of a Dominican initiate. After few months, Thomas went to the Roman Convent of Santa Sabina. There he wrote few golden words in his diary – “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary; to one without faith, no explanation is possible.” He was very clear about becoming a monk and about what he felt that God had ordained for him. None of his family members were able to dissuade him from his chosen path. Thomas then shifted residence to Cologne and there he wrote, “To bear with patience wrongs done to one-self is a mark of perfection; but, to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of actual sin.” He was only nineteen years of age when he wrote that. In 1244, he was summoned by the Pope then to talk to him in person as word had reached him about his wisdom and his dedication. The Pope gave him the position of an abbot with a decent income. He was in the subsequent years made an official friar of Mary and was deemed a Dominican. At Cologne, Thomas became a pupil of the theologian, Albertus Magnus. He was also known as Saint Albert the Great. He was considered as the leading religious scholar of his day. He was also among the first to preach the writings of Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher. The Germans were arrogant against Thomas and they ridiculed him as a `dumb Sicilian ox.’ But, he did not budge and along with his teacher Albertus, he was defending complicated theological arguments, showing to the world his vast understanding of the faith. Thomas Aquinas hated being idle during a day. He wrote in his diary, “Idleness is the hook with which the devil fishes, with which all bait are taken.” Albert considered Aquinas as his foremost protégé and took him along on all is tours. One such tour was to Paris, where Thomas was allowed to spend time with his studies at the Dominican Convent of St. James. Thomas was now in his twenties. He spent time reading the Bible and relevant scriptures, night and day and started studying the works of Aristotle. He struggled with the contradictions he faced while doing this as Aristotle was an atheist. Here, he met Giovanni di Fidanza, who later on became Saint Bonaventure. Aquinas began to gain a wide following. He became prolific in writing philosophical works. His famous work from these times was `Summa Theologiae’. He wondered in it, “I cannot understand how anyone who knows he is in a state of mortal sin can laugh or be merry.” He went on to write in 1257 ‘Summa Contra Gentiles’. In this book, Aquinas built a link between Arab and Greek thought and framed it into a Christian perspective. His argument was that the intelligent thought of non-Christians shined brighter when placed under the light of Christian faith. He started working on a treatise on the Epistles of St. Paul. Soon after he wrote that, several monks who were his colleagues bore witness to the visitation of Jesus Christ. In 1261, he wrote in his diary, “the prayer-less soul advances in nothing.” During this time, the Greek Orthodox followers were regarded as heretical by Roman Catholic Church for their varying beliefs in matters of communion, Holy Spirit and the eventual authority of the pope. Thomas wrote a lengthy treatise on this subject and called it `Against the Errors of the Greeks’. People then could not deny the conviction and passion that Aquinas laid out in his arguments. He became a zealous proselytizer and was looked upon as the only bridge between Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Catholic Church. In 1263, he visited London and drew large crowds with his theological lectures. King Henry III of England praised him and his efforts. In 1264, Pope Urban IV died and Pope Clement IV was elected next. The new pope also thought highly of Thomas Aquinas and nominated him as the Archbishop of Napoli. Thomas refused this offer and opted instead to teach in Paris and Bologna. However, he returned to Napoli in 1272 and set up a university. He enlisted several handpicked faculty in order to teach the new recruits of the Dominican order. He began writing, during this time, his most famous work – Summa Theologiae. He was in his intellectual prime in his late forties. When he was not engaged in philosophical discussions, Thomas was busy writing. In one of his treatises, he wrote, “better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.” He was also given to have supernatural encounters when he resided in Napoli. It is reported that on one night, people heard him engaged in an animated conversation during the middle of the night and there was no one in the room with him. He was arguing with an unknown presence. After the conversation ended, he started writing a complicated treatise, as reported by people closest to him. When asked by people near and dear to him, Aquinas had told them that he had visitations from Apostle Peter and Paul. Thomas Aquinas was said to occasionally fall into bouts of religious ecstasy. He became so intensely focused in his meditation and contemplation that it was difficult for anyone to snap him out of these sessions. In 1274, while visiting the Vatican, Thomas suffered a nasty fall. As he was travelling on a mule in the Terracina region, he got struck on the head by a branch that fell from a tree. He lost consciousness from that blow. From this day onwards, his condition grew worse and he passed away in a couple of months. He was only forty-nine when he died. A vast multitude attended his funeral. There is a report of a miracle taking place during his funeral. A person who was blind got his sight back. Five decades after his crossing over, Thomas Aquinas was canonised as a saint. A couple of centuries later, in 1567, he was declared a `Doctor of the Church’. This is a rare distinction and it is given only to those who have contributed great theological works and liturgy inspired by God. With this recognition, he is in great company of epic writers like Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine. His words have continued to lead all faithful followers down the path of divine enlightenment. The greatest legacy he has left behind for people was his inquisitive mind. He always dared to make enquiries into matters that many never dreamed of questioning. He trained himself in the logic of classic philosophers such as Aristotle. He was good at asking fundamental questions and backed himself up with considerable force of reason when it came to creation of logical arguments. Earlier in his life, his peers interpreted his silence as stupidity and ridiculed him by calling him a `dumb ox’. Answers came to his instinctive questioning both as logical reasoning and through divine visitation as witnessed by many of those who were close to him. His philosophical legacy is still unfolding close to a millennium after his death. His life was a shining example as a testament of devotion and utter faith.

Henry VIII – The Impact He Had on England and his Six Wives

Henry VIII was made King of England at just seventeen years of age in 1509. Not long after he sat on the throne after his father Henry VII, he married and got two his father’s unpopular ministers executed. In cricket parlance, he started hitting sixes in his very first over. The wedding would be his first out of six and these executions would be among the first of hundreds that were carried out as per his orders. He began to think from his teenage years that his powers were limitless. Europe started looking at him as a powerful ruler whose court represented sophistication and grandeur. It cannot be denied that he was one of the most charismatic and accomplished kings that England would witness. He took over the throne of England at a tumultuous time when the House of Tudor was showing signs of vulnerability and being fragile. England’s elite were warring with factions of each other. The Ward of the Roses had just about come to an end and the royal houses of York and Lancaster had fought over their rights for over three decades. Henry VIII was obsessed about a son and a male heir and that eluded him. Hence, the progression resulted from one marriage to another. That eventually led to his controversial conflict with the Catholic Church and the Pope. Henry VIII was a glutton and in his late twenties had turned into an obese and an infirm character. He also started suffering with recurring leg infections. He had got this injury while jousting. He became an egotist with a capricious and a callous nature. After his death, school children had this to say about his six wives, “divorced-beheaded-died-divorced- beheaded-survived.” History has not been kind to this king. He is mostly remembered now as a fool and a tyrant who was occasionally betrayed by his counselors who met a fateful end through executions. Henry VIII was born on 28th June 1491 in Greenwich, London. He was the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Derby, brought him up. This lady owned so much of land in England that she was second only to the king in land ownership. After taking up the throne, Henry VIII surprised everyone by announcing that he wanted to marry Katherine of Aragon, widow of Prince Arthur who was Henry VII’s younger brother. Katherine was a pious woman who got up in the middle of the night to recite Matins and was eager to hear mass at dawn. During this era, all the acts of parliament were carried out in the name of the king and his authority was considered second only to that of God. Henry VIII was pompous enough to go along with the belief that his will was an expression of God’s will and one that could not be questioned. He was lucky that people still venerated him despite all his cruelties. To the English gentry, Henry VIII became personification of grandeur and power and was the first king in England to adopt the title of ‘Your Majesty’. His court became the seat of government and the cultural hub of the entire nation. His love of gaiety and dancing took him away from important business of ruling the nation. He hated paperwork and bureaucracy and passed on diplomatic matters to his ambitious ministers. He also possessed a glad eye and took several mistresses. Extra marital affairs were not unusual for him. Katherine did not seem to protest as he had not borne him a son as an heir. In 1511, he gave birth to a son, Henry but the poor child died after a couple of years. This was followed by births of still-born babies in 1514 and 1515. During this time, England became embroiled in a war with France. After a lengthy campaign, the English army defeated the French one and took couple of French towns. As a result of financial strain, the war with France was abandoned. Cardinal Wolsey was appointed papal legate and given full authority over the Church of England. He convinced Henry VIII to execute the Treat of London in 1518. The Cardinal’s efforts were in vain as Henry ignored him and wanted to unite England with the Roman Empire in the war with France in 1521. As Henry VIII did not have a son to succeed him on the throne of England, English noblemen with Plantagenet blood were putting up claim, particularly the Duke of Buckingham as he was a descendant of Edward III. Being aware of this, Henry had the Duke of Buckingham executed on slim and false charges of treason. Meanwhile, he had an illegitimate son from Elizabeth Blount, named Henry Fitzroy. To Katherine’s dismay, she reached menopause at just thirty-eight. Henry was busy courting Mary Boleyn, Anne’s elder sister and had two children from her. His interest waned in her and he started paying attention to her younger sister, Anne Boleyn. Anne, at first, tried to reject Henry’s advances but gave in, later. Anne was talented; she played many musical instruments and had an interest in decorative arts ad the field of scholarly learning. She was also an accomplished dancer and a poetess. She quickly learnt the art of dressing fashionably. Seeing all this, Henry VIII was genuinely falling in love with Anne Boleyn. To prepare his ground, Henry took a revolutionary step of contacting Rome and asked the pope to annul his marriage with Katharine, as she was his brother’s widow, saying that he had sinned and that God was punishing him for refusing to bless him with a male descendant. Henry had started to make crucial decisions without the advice of Cardinal Wolsey. Henry’s decision to annul his marriage with Katharine with the Pope’s blessing came to be called as the `King’s Great Matter’. Cardinal Campeggio was sent from Italy to hear out Henry’s case. The hearing was unsuccessful and the annulment went into a state of limbo. Henry took out his anger on Cardinal Wolsey. He got him imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he died of natural causes. In 1529, Henry made several appointments. An important one was that of Thomas More as the Lord Chancellor of England. More lasted only for a year and a brilliant film has been made on these events titled `a man for all Seasons’. In 1530, Thomas Cromwell was appointed as Collector of Revenues and was added to the King’s Privy Council. During this time Henry VIII declared himself the religious head of the United Kingdom. In 1532, Cromwell rose to the position of the King’s chief minister. Henry married Anne Boleyn in December 1532 as she was pregnant and he wanted to avoid having a child born out of wedlock. Important changes were made to parliamentary legislation and an Act of Restraint of Appeals was passed giving sovereign authority of the King over the pope. It gave Henry more power than any other English king before him. In May 1533, Henry’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon was declared void and null by a special court that was set up at Dunstable Priory. A few weeks later, the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was declared valid. The coronation of Anne Boleyn occurred on 1st June 1533. She settled down as Queen and started attending Mass in the Royal Chapel. She was decked with diamonds and had sixty ladies attending to her. She was the happiest person in the entire realm of England. She was crowned Queen by Archbishop Cranmer. Henry retired with her after the coronation to Greenwich and enjoyed the days following their marriage ceremony in privacy. In September 1533, Anne Boleyn gave birth to Elizabeth who later went on to become the famous queen, Elizabeth I of England and Ireland. As Anne did not give him a son, Henry got tired of her very fast. The next child was a stillborn one and that disappointed Henry further. He took on a mistress, Jane Seymour. He started taking advice of Thomas Cromwell and sought ways of getting rid of Anne Boleyn from his life. Cromwell licked his arse as he was interested in the King’s treasury than in his marriages. And Henry VIII was, in fact, the richest King of England. He even antagonised Thomas More and got him convicted of high treason and executed in 1535. In 1536, Katharine of Aragon died. Anne miscarried again that year. Cromwell started on his cunning ways on looking for an opportunity to set up false claims of treason against Anne. When he failed on that count, he put up a fabricated charge of adultery on her. Henry pounced on that opportunity and had her brother and her lover executed and in the May of that year, he passed orders for the execution of Anne Boleyn. This was very well presented in the film ‘Anne of the Thousand Days’ featuring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold. Archbishop Cranmer was forced to declare Princess Elizabeth illegitimate. A day after Anne Boleyn’s Execution, Henry VIII brought Jane Seymour to Hampton Court. He was a heartless boor. Ten days later, they were married by Bishop Gardiner in Queen’s Closet at Whitehall. Jane did an admirable thing during her time as Queen and that was to bring about reconciliation between Henry and his two illegitimate daughters, Mary and Anne. Both girls were now welcome at the court. Jane died in October 1537 as a result of an infection she contracted during childbirth of Edward. Meanwhile, Cromwell was busy planning how he could wipe out the existing religious institutions in England and transfer their funds back into his treasury. The revenues of the abbeys doubled the wealth of the royal treasury. Henry used these sums to secure loyalty of influential men in his kingdom. He used some of his money to fund several elaborate building projects. The next bait or wife for Henry was Anne of Cleves, sister of the Duke of Cleves. It was arranged by Thomas Cromwell. It was not smooth sailing for Cromwell after that. Duke of Norwich was able to convince Henry that Cromwell had been amassing great wealth behind his back and giving him wrong counsel. This led to the arrest of Cromwell. Within a month, he was beheaded. People rejoiced as they did not like him and always suspected him of treason. The marriage with Anne of Cleves was a failure and he went on to marry Katherine Howard. She got lands that belonged to Cromwell and a fair amount of jewelry. During this period, monasteries were dissolved. Henry was becoming agitated by the day and started harbouring a violent temper. He was being called the `English Nero’. As he had no able assistance, he had to turn into a hard working king. Making crucial policy decisions and handling endless correspondence wrecked his mood further. He started burning Catholics for giving support to the Pope; and on the other hand, he was busy burning Protestant reformers for being heretic. Katharine started with an affair with a courtier and was soon spotted and condemned and was the second of Henry’s wives to be beheaded. After the death of Katharine, Henry realized that of all the losses in his life, time was the most irrecoverable of them all for it could never be redeemed. He now turned himself to the matters of war after failing miserable in his round of marriages. He also faced military aggression from Scotland. James V of Scotland had refused when Henry wanted to sway him away from Catholicism. He met big resistance at the Battle of Solway Moss in November 1542 but was victorious in the end. After this victory, Henry wedded his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr. She was a twice-widowed woman and their alliance was harmonious as they enjoyed each other’s company. Her benevolent nature once gain helped unite Henry with Elizabeth and Mary. In 1544, Henry’s health took a turn for the worse. He was tormented by the pain in his leg and was plagued by fever. He managed to live for another three years without finding a remedy for his ailment and died in January 1547 as a result of pulmonary embolism. He was only fifty-six when he died. Edward VI was then proclaimed King of England. However boorish his temperament may have been, Henry VIII became a legend in his own lifetime. He brought England a sense of refinement and splendor during the early phase of his reign when he was not bedding and marrying. However, later on during his reign, it was not all pageantry and pleasure. He turned himself into n egocentric monstrosity; he became a king whose autocratic style of ruling brought much upheaval and destruction to his realm. The biggest blunder in his life was the act involving dissolution of monasteries and the people he executed for his whimsical mood changes. He may have been a patron of arts but his wives suffered at his hands. All six of them died in this way – divorced, married, died, divorced, married and survived. Out of these, two were beheaded.

Review of the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Brown has stood up to the great expectations by his readers with this thriller of his. The adventures of Professor Langdon have created a stir once again after Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code. You simply cannot deny being overwhelmed by the mysteries that are revealed in this gem of a work. You get to learn about the Freemasons and about their secrets and their origin. You encounter Noetic science as represented by an important character in the book, Katharine Solomon. When you are done reading, you would have soaked in a lot about the ancient mysteries and the truth concerning the adepts who have transmitted secret knowledge from Ancient Egypt to the founding Fathers of the American Constitution. This novel is following the footsteps of `Da Vinci Code’, a work that was condemned by the Vatican. Rome even denied permission for the filming of `Angels and Demons’. Brown is highlighting another powerful and ancient sect in the `Lost Symbol’ – the Freemasons. He is not trying to explain to us the secretive or bizarre rites of the Masons but he is interested in explaining their symbols and how they and the `Illuminati’ are shaping and controlling whatever that happens in the capital city of the most powerful nation in the world, ever since George Washington laid the cornerstone for the Capitol building in a Masonic ritual. Brown is certainly inspired by Steven Spielberg and his character Indiana Jones when he moulds his own Robert Langdon. He replaces the narrative and the galloping drive with fascinating pyramids and treasure maps and mythological archetypes and all those secret codes. In his books, just like Langdon needs a sexy companion to add flavour to the mystery thriller and its narrative, there has to be a deranged and demented lunatic villain. In this work, it is Mal’akh, whose eyes are shining with `feral ferocity’. With this book, Dan Brown has unleashed an unmistakable attack on all false assumptions that coat the thinking of the Western civilization. I, for one, have started to feel after reading Dan Brown’s books that our understanding of history has been manipulated and brainwashed and is perhaps based on deliberate suppression of ancient truths. In the Da Vinci Code, he had shaken the whole world by questioning and rattling the pillars of Christian faith. In `The Lost Symbol’, he points out that modern culture is suffering from a lack of understanding of competing world views; one that gives rise to the primacy to faith doctrines and the other, to logic and rationality. The reader gets a comprehensive tour of everything great and sacred in the unique city of Washington, District of Columbia. You feel that you have explored the hidden areas behind the great architectural monuments in this city, as you experience the agonising pursuit of the artifact by Professor Robert Langdon and Katharine Solomon.