Fallen Cicada: Unwritten History of Darjeeling Hills

Fallen Cicada: Unwritten History of Darjeeling Hills
Author: Barun Roy
Publisher: Barun Roy
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2003-09-01
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN:

This book celebrates the spirit of Darjeeling that was, is and shall be. This book also celebrates her children who overcoming all misfortunes and setbacks laid down a glorious history and in doing so became a part of that spirit of Darjeeling.

Darjeeling

Darjeeling
Author: Dinesh Chandra Ray
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2022-12-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000828808

History has always dealt with people, yet often gazing at the people from the perspectives of the non-people – colonizers, intruders, outsiders and the privileged elite insiders – who seem to have internalized the ‘mainstream’ perspective framed by the outsiders. In this context a group of scholars working on Darjeeling felt that there was a need for an inclusive people’s history of the Darjeeling hills. The present volume tries to fill this gap of the missing voices of the people of the Darjeeling hills and their cultures through re-writing inclusive history of society and culture from ‘below’, not only by de­coding the elements that are treated as tradition, but also the trans­formations in the realms of arts and ecology. For, the tribal-scape of the Darjeeling hills is not a static/frozen zone and the people (hence, the geo-space) are in continuous transition from traditional beings towards becoming neo-traditional. Accepting history as constantly ‘extra mural’ the objectives of the book are to focus on un­documented histories related to harmony, intimacy, belongingness and environ­mental care and thereby, interact the living with what is often projected as ‘dead’, by rejecting to abide by any given set of references as the final/‘scientific’/authentic and, thereby, opening up with other kinds of historical dialogue with the understated historical items that are accessible in Darjeeling. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the print version of this book in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Ravaged Paradise

The Ravaged Paradise
Author: Dipanwita Dasgupta
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2023-04-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000885739

This book makes a systematic attempt to explore the environmental history of Darjeeling during the British colonial period (1835-1947), which profoundly transformed the environment of Darjeeling by intro­ducing commercial control over the natural resources. After the foundation of Darjeeling as the hill station for the low-income groups of British administration living in Bengal and Burma, the place was transformed into a social, recreational and commercial centre for the British authorities. The railway construction boom, introduction of tea plantation, the growth of a commercial market for timber and increasing demands for fuel and building materials depleted the forest cover. The less explored regions of Darjeeling attracted the adventure-thirsty Britons. A series of investigations were made on the marketable prod­ucts, the condition of roads, and quality of soil of these regions. The ethnographic, geological, botanical and zoological study of the Darjeeling was started by the colonial officials in the nineteenth century. In the early stage of expansion of colonialism in Asia, Africa, Australia and South America, the European colonizers faced numerous problems in dealing with the untouched nature. The accumulation of the knowledge of surrounding regions and proper management of the labour became essential for the colonial authority for transformation of the existing environment of the densely forested tropical colonies. Taylor and Francis does not sell or distribute the print editions of this book in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Darjeeling: The Unhealed Wound

Darjeeling: The Unhealed Wound
Author: C.R. Rai
Publisher: Blue Rose Publishers
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2022-07-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

The beautiful hill district of Darjeeling has been in the throes of political uncertainty for several decades now. Mr. CR Rai, a retired administrator with rich experience who also led his political outfit after resigning from service, had access to some of the prime political actors and events at the height of the Gorkhaland agitation and brought his unique perspective on the issue in this unusually interesting book. Darjeeling: The Unhealed Wound discusses the people and circumstances responsible for creating political uncertainty. There are fascinating insights into the roles played by the local leaders and the main players as well as Dr BC Roy and Shri Vallabhai Patel in determining Darjeeling’s post-independence position. What influence did Nepal have? How did Sikkim’s annexation influence regional politics? These and other questions are discussed with great passion. Darjeeling enthusiasts will also be fascinated by the references to the many known and lesser-known figures who played a crucial role in the establishment of the original “Queen of the Hills”

The Great Indian Railways

The Great Indian Railways
Author: Arup K. Chatterjee
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2019-01-25
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9388414233

Following an experimental railway track at Chintadripet, in 1835, the battle for India's first railroad was fought bitterly between John Chapman's Great Indian Peninsular Railway and Rowland MacDonald Stephenson's East India Railway Company, which was merged with Dwarkanauth Tagore's Great Western of Bengal Railway. Even at the height of the Mutiny of 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar promised Indian owned railway tracks for native merchants if Badshahi rule was restored in Delhi. From Jules Verne to Rudyard Kipling to Mark Twain to Rabindranath Tagore to Nirad C. Chaudhuri to R.K. Narayan and Ruskin Bond-the aura of Indian trains and railway stations have enchanted many writers and poets. With iconic cinematography from The Apu Trilogy, Aradhana, Sonar Kella, Sholay, Gandhi, Dil Se, Parineeta, Barfi, Gangs of Wasseypur, and numerous others, Indian cinema has paved the way for mythical railroads in the national psyche. The Great Indian Railways takes us on a historic adventure through many junctions of India's hidden railway legends, for the first time in a book replete with anecdotes from imperial politics, European and Indian accounts, the battlefronts of the Indian nationalist movement, Indian cinema, songs, advertisements, and much more, in an ever-expanding cultural biography of the Great Indian Railways. Dubbed as 'one of a kind' this awe-inspiring saga is 'compulsive reading.' 'In this fascinating cultural history, Arup K Chatterjee charts the extraordinary journey of the Indian Railways, from the laying of the very first sleeper to the first post-Independence bogey. It evokes our collective accumulation of those innumerable memories of platform chai and rail-gaadi stories, bringing alive through myriad voices and tales the biography of one of India's defining public institutions.' – Shashi Tharoor, Author, M.P., Lok Sabha 'The Great Indian Railways is a fascinating and well-researched cultural biography of the Indian Railways-those intricate arteries of the soul of India, as have been experienced, written, filmed, and dreamed. We cannot all travel by rail to know India, as Gandhiji did, but we can and should read this book!' – Tabish Khair, Author, Professor

The Rhinoceros of South Asia

The Rhinoceros of South Asia
Author: Kees Rookmaaker
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 891
Release: 2024-06-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9004691545

The rhinoceros is an iconic animal. Three species once inhabited South Asia, two of which disappeared over a century ago. This survey aims to reconstruct the historical distribution of these large mammals resulting in new maps showing the extent of their occurrences. Thousands of sources varied in time and nature are used to study the interactions between man and rhinoceros. The text is supported by over 700 illustrations and 38 maps showing the importance of the rhinoceros in the scientific and cultural fabric of Asia and beyond.

Gorkhas and Gorkhaland

Gorkhas and Gorkhaland
Author: Barun Roy
Publisher: Barun Roy
Total Pages: 508
Release: 2012-12-25
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 9810786468

A comprehensive socio-political study of the Gorkha people and their demand for the separate state of Gorkhaland

Jungle Peace

Jungle Peace
Author: William Beebe
Publisher:
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1918
Genre: Guyana
ISBN:

Short Circuits

Short Circuits
Author: Stephen Leacock
Publisher: DigiCat
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2022-09-15
Genre: Humor
ISBN:

"Short Circuits" is a collection of essays and short stories by the Canadian writer and humorist Stephen Leacock. Like many of his fiction and non-fiction books, this work features the author's light humor along with criticisms of people's follies. It is divided into several chapters, each of which is dedicated to a certain side of human life, like the annoyance with flies in the middle of the summer or the routines of a regular citizen.