Verinag, Rainbow Trout

Guest post by Man Mohan Munshi Ji. I remember reading that Rainbow Trout from Isleman in Denmark was first introduced in Kashmir in the 1950s.

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Verinag Spring
   At one time only the local Kashmiri Fish (Sater Gad) used to be in
 Verinag Spring but since a number of years Rainbow trout has also
found its way

Antique Workmanship

Some more stuff from Man Mohan Munshi Ji’s personal collection.

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Copper vessel with lid on a wooden Badrapeeth used for worship of Saligram (Banalingas) and Parthishor on Sawan Purnamashi by Kashmiri Pandits in the past. At present the  use  of these artifacts is no longer in practice.

A closer view of the above  wooden Badrapeeth showing fine artistic carvings.
Wooden   tumbler and  cups made of wood  at Anantnag (South
Kashmir). This art is no longer in vogue  The artisans  since long
have taken to walnut  carvings . All these items have been used by my
grand parents 1868-1954 approx. and at present  are in my personal
collection

Not an antique but an elephant shaped tea cosy . [Apparently quite appreciated in the west]

Konsar Nag and Mollen pot hole

Guest post by Man Mohan Munshi Ji. I had to ask him what ‘Mollen pot hole’ means. 
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 Snow Covered Konsar Nag Lake (Kramasaras) in Spring

Mollen pot hole in a snow covered valley in Pir Panjal Range.

Both photographs have been taken in May 1954 and are from my post graduate thesis paper submitted in 1955.  Mollen Pot hole is a well/pond like shape carved in a thick snow bed  by the  under flowing water.

A Beauty of the Valley, 1920

A Beauty of the Valley by Gertrude Hadenfeldt
A Beauty of the Valley by Gertrude Hadenfeldt

Found this beauty in ‘The Charm of Kashmir’ (1920) by V.C. Scott O’connor (Vincent Clarence Scott, 1869-1945). Miss Gertrude. Hadenfeldt’s water color of Kashmir are still quite popular. She had spent around five years in the valley.

Kashmiri Pandit Family Portrait, 1930s

Contributed by Man Mohan Munshi Ji.
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A photograph of of a Kashmiri Pandit Family taken in front of their farm house at a stones throw from the famous Neolithic site of Burzahom, Kashmir in 1930s.

Update: More info. from Man Mohan Munshi ji about the family in the photograph.

Mrs.Lakhshmi Fotedar, [At present in Noida]. Mrs. Jaya Razdan [at present in Orange county California. , Late Mrs. Uma Sumbli. Chairs: Late Mrs Gauri Munshi, Late Sham Lal Koul, Late Raghu Nath Koul, Late Jagan Nath Koul, Late Devki Koul front row sitting Mrs Rupa Koul[at present in Delhi] Manmohan Munshi[at present in Jammu] Kishni [present whereabouts unknown].

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Kalamdan, Farsi Kalam, Silver Ink Pot, Stationery Knife and Scissors

More awesome stuff from Man Mohan Munshi Ji’s treasure tove. Do check out the details on the Kalamdan.
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Kalamdan(pen stand ), Farsi Kalam (indigenous pen made of wood including the nib.),Silver Ink Pot ,stationery knife and scissors inherited and used by Pt. Mhanand Joo Dhar(1828-1908) who took over the land settlement department of Maharaja Pratab Singh, the Dogra ruler Jammu and Kashmir, after Sir Walter Lawrence departed for Europe.. Pt Mahanand Joo Dhar was great grand father of Maj-Gen.(Retd.) B.N.Dhar and late D.P.Dhar diplomat and cabinet minister in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet.
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Koshur British Rhymes

I saw a glimpse of it in Aldous Huxley’s description of year 1925-26 Kashmir in his book Jesting Pilate (1948). He heard ‘Dum-dum, BONG; diddy-dum, BONG’. He wasn’t the first British person to hear it. Much much earlier, around 1835, another Brit, G.T. Vigne heard in it an old comic song. He thought he was hearing ‘Kitty Clover’. I managed to re-create (unfaithfully) the old song from his notes and some software. But I failed to see a patter until I read about it in introduction to ‘Kashmiri Lyrics’ (first published in 1945) by J.L. Kaul:

There is indeed a “nursery rhyme thrill”, a certain Hickery-Dickery-Dock patter of rhythm, which anyone can hear (as Aldous Huxley heard it) any time, of day, in the streets of Kashmir with which a group of coolies enliven the heavy loads they carry collectively. Several Englishman have told me that they can catch and appreciate the lilt of a Kashmiri song (say), a boatman’s chant more easily than they can do elsewhere in India. here is what Mary Hallowes caught of the tune of a chant sung by boatmen punting up their cargo boats “Khocu”  in the Jhelum. [published at the time in The Illustrated Weekly of India]

“Swift the current,dark the night,
(Ya-illa,la-illa)
Stars above our guide and light
(Kraliar,baliar!…)
All together on the rope,
(Ya Pir-Dust Gir)
In our sinews lies our hope
Khaliko,Malik-ko!…”

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