Elysium

"History is not always written by the writers of the great times. It is written by those who have hanged the heroes". How they survived when their king lay massacred on the bloody ground? how they know of the sword that pierced his heart? where where they? how did they hear his last mumble? how did they live to see him fall first? and yet we sing along with their lament, and yet we dance in their folklore. What world they lived, i do not know, though i know they lived, yes they lived great beyond contestation, beyond our contemporary imagination.

The Indian solider was an essential support of the British Empire worldwide. Post 1858, the British redesigned the Indian army around the Martial Race Theory, in order to secure the Raj. Based on their loyalty towards the British, various Indian communities were deemed "martial races", characterized with qualities such as manliness and bravery. The Rajputs were a martial race and therefore, the Imperial Cadet Corps (ICC) and the Jodhpur Lancers emerged as important parts of the army.To reduce the expenditure of “Govt. Of India” Viceroy Lord Dufferin (1884-1888) introduced the scheme of imperial services, i.e. forces raised in and paid for by princely states. Sir Pratap’s Jodhpur’s regiment, the Jodhpur Lancers, joined in immediately.Polo in its modern form was introduced when Sir Pratap invited the Bengal Lancers to raise the Jodhpur Lancers. By 1899, the Jodhpur lancers were divided into 2 regiments- each made up of 8 squadron officers, 8 jamadars, 8 kote daffadars, and 1058...

Monsoon 2008 15 Aug “Tap” “Tap” - ‘Excuse me, excuse me sir, may I request you to please put your seat up straight. As the captain just announced, we are about to land. I opened my eyes and saw a young girl leaning forward towards me wearing a beautiful woven garment with colours that were bright and yet not so familiar. She stood there with her extensive artificial smile till she was satisfied that I got the message and left. Trying to sit up I saw Salman Rushdie’s latest master piece “Enchantress of Florence” lying flat on my lap and my i-pod nearly falling from my seat. Suddenly everything came back like some old black & white slideshow throwing too many Charlie Chaplin clips at once that it’s even hard to laugh at a constant humour. So I remembered the burnt toast, double half fry, a speeded drive, screaming for change, a long queue, hand shakes, a dragon and someone asking “Anything you would like to drink sir? SIR????? I was about to land in the worlds most exotic & ...