Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts

Sunday, 1 January 2012

"Google instincts across the LoC, 2011: Sex, Shahrukh, Cricket and Kashmir"


If any of the above words in the headline brought you here, high probability that you’re either an Indian or a Paki. This is what, at least, Google Trends data of 2011 corroborate. No matter how much we hate each other, some threads run common among us; it’s the same blood running in our veins. Indo-Pak cities top the charts when it comes to Google-ing ‘Sex’, ‘Shahrukh’, ‘Cricket’ and of course, ‘Kashmir’. Our brothers across the fence beat us in each of it, but there are some other surprising revelations too. Have a look:

Sex:  While other three search queries have fairly obvious chartbusters, this was an unexpected but a pleasant surprise for unlike others, sex unites. Also, an unreliable randomly sampled quick scan of online user created data showed a clear preference for Paki males and females over their Indian counterparts. While an average Paki male is hailed for his virility, a Paki female score for her…well, I really didn’t get it.

So much we share our curiosity for sex that seven Indian and one Paki city feature in the top ten global cities which queried for ‘sex’, substantiating that Kamasutra was not just a fluke. The chart is topped by Colombo though. Delhi, unexpectedly is ranked far behind at fifth. The surprising entries here are the culturally reserved cities of Calcutta, Lahore and Hyderabad.  Basic instincts do come out, some or other way.

Among regions, the brothers stand neck to neck with Pakistan ranked second, closely followed by India at third.  The list surprisingly is topped by, our sub-continental cousin, Sri Lanka. 

 
 
















Shahrukh: We all know the rage Hindi Cinema is in Pakistan. Who better than our global superstar Shahrukh can represent Bollywood across the globe? Apparently, the top four cities which queried for Shahrukh the most comes from Pakistan. This is not surprising given the overdose of Shahrukh, Indians had in the past year. But still there are five Indian cities, where they could not get enough of Shahrukh offline, in the top ten. This surprisingly does not feature Delhi, which is said to be his own territory.  Tier-II cities like Indore and Ahmedabad and laid-back cities like Kochi made their marks too.




 















Cricket: With the quadrennial Cricket World Cup hosted in the sub-continent this time and India finally winning it after twenty-eight years, it was hardly a surprise that maximum Google queries for ‘cricket’ came from the sub-continent cric-rivals: India and Pakistan. The semi-final among the arch-rivals was nothing short of a war-battle. Eight Indian cities and two Paki cities combinedly clean-sweep the list.  Another surprise is the number of tier-II cities like Indore and Jaipur making it high in the list.




















Kashmir:  The bone of contention and a powerful political tool, which has made the lives of natives a misery; it seems that no one across the borders really cares about the region beyond territorial claims; of course, if Google Trends data are to be believed. Over ninety per cent of Google queries for Kashmir came from the regional-capital of Srinagar; other very few from the border towns. 


















Saturday, 5 November 2011

"Philately and a Brief History of Postage Stamps”


Of so many other things, the British have to be credited again for coming up with the practice of postage stamps. Sir Rowland Hill, knighted for reforming British Postal System, is called Father of Postage Stamps. Prior to postage stamps, postmarks depicting the charges were imprinted and the charges were to be paid by the recipient. Charges, exorbitantly high, were levied according to the distance and number of sheets used. And many a times; the receivers would refuse to pay. Rowland Hill’s famous pamphlet on Postal reforms suggested few novel but presumptuous changes: that charges be levied according to weight rather than distance; that postage be paid beforehand by the sender. For pre-payment of the postage, he suggested that small adhesive pieces of paper of various denominations be used those could be affixed on the postal materials. His proposals were accepted in 1839 amid skepticism and thus were stamps born. 

An exhibition cover commemorating Sir Rowland Hill
Postal correspondence increased dramatically by over cent per cent in the first few months and in 1840, the world’s first postage stamps were introduced: Black Pennnies. They were imperforated. The system was a success and later replicated in various colonies of British and over the world. Stamps were first introduced in India in the province of Sindh in the year 1852. Scinde Dawks, as they were called, were of ½ Anna denominations each and were the first stamps to be used in Asia. These became obsolete in the year 1854 and were succeeded by Red Lithos of ½ Anna, 1 Anna, 2 Anna, and 4 Anna which could be used throughout British India. Red Lithos derived their name from the printing technology used, namely: lithography and were printed and designed in Calcutta. Present day India stamps are printed at Nashik Security Press. 

The system of stamps was soon replicated in all the British colonies. The British stamps did not have name of the country imprinted — a tradition which continues to this day. Mostly the stamps would feature the face of the ruling queen or king of the British Empire. At the end of colonialism, several themes, important events, celebrities, monuments, flora and fan una et cetera were incorporated. Philately first emerged as a hobby in Germany. Britain, Germany and China caboast of most number of philately enthusiasts. Philately, once a passion restricted to elite, is now gaining prominence among everyone. 

Black Pennies, 1840


Red Litho, 1854

Some important terms related to philately:

Definitive Stamps: are the general purpose stamps which one usually gets at postal counters. They are printed in bulk and are of cheaper paper and ink quality. They are printed over longer period of time. They are usually smaller in size.

India: First definitive Series
Commemorative Stamps: are used to commemorate important events of significance, important personalities, national resources et cetera. They are bigger in size, of glossy finishing, and of better paper and ink quality.

First Commemorative Stamps of India: Independence Series, 1947

Proofs: are samples of stamps prior to their printing, to check the quality of ink and design at various stages of production. Proofs are usually taken on hard cover of white paper and are dried and check-tested for results.

Proof to check the ink
Essays: are various designs of proposed stamps submitted to postal authorities. Not all essays are used. They are usually altered to better the quality of ink and design.

Essays to check various designs
Fiscals/Revenue: stamps are stamps used to taxation or bureaucratic purposes. If postal stamps are used, they’ll bear different cancellations.

Fiscal Stamps
Cancellations: the cancellation marks used on stamps. Various different types of cancellations are used and the value of stamps may depend upon the type of cancellation on it.

 Used: stamps which are cancelled. Used stamps are usually of more significance to philatelists.

Mint: stamps which are not used. They gum is usually preserved else may decrease the value of stamp.

Watermark: the paper used to print stamps bears a watermark which can be seen against any light source. Same stamps may be printed on different watermark papers thus differentiating the value of stamps.

Catalogue: a book containing details of stamps in chronological order and stating the importance, valuations, and intricate details about stamps. Catalogues published by Stanley Gibbons are most widely used as a standard reference to valuations.



Denomination/Face-value: the value of stamps printed on it.

Catalogue-value: the value of stamps printed in a catalogue.

Perforations: are the holes punched to make the separation of stamps easy.

Perforation Gauge: is used to measure the perforation of the stamps. Same design of stamps may be printed with different perforation values.

Perforation Gauge


Gutters: are hardly used these days. These are spaces between blocks of perforated stamps to make separation of stamps easy.

A Gutter Block
Dyes: the die used to print stamps. Same stamps are sometimes printed using different dyes.

Shades: are again little color variations used to print the same design of stamps.

Maximum cards: are the post cards of the same design as stamps with the stamp pasted and cancelled on the picture sides, on the date of release of stamp. These are usually sold to philately enthusiasts.

A Maximum Card

First Day Covers: are colorful envelops on the theme of stamp with the stamp affixed an cancelled on the date of release; again targeted towards stamp collectors.  

A First Day Cover
 
O.H.M.S: abbreviation of On His Majesty’s Service. Cancellations on government stationary during the time of British Empire.

OHMS

Omnibus: issue of stamps of the same or nearly same design by more than one country; usually, in the times of British Empire.



Omnibus: Same design of stamps used for different Commonwealth Nations

Specimens: are stamps sent to various postmasters across the countries to be used as reference so that forgeries and fake stamps can be avoided. They have ‘SPECIMEN’ imprinted on them.; practiced mostly in the times of British Empire. 

Specimen
Hinges: are small gummed pieces of paper used to affix stamps on sheets by stamp collectors. Hinged stamps are valued lesser than unhinged ones.

Hinges
Mounts: are transparent plastic covers used to protect stamps from external environment and affix them on collector’s sheets.

Mounts
Tongs: are tweezers used to handle stamps as using hands may affect the design and gum parameters. 

Tongs
Overprints: are texts printed on stamps. Princely states in India would use the British stamps with the name of their state overprinted on it. A country’s stamps may be overprinted for use in abroad.


Pairs: two stamps which are un-separated.

Square: a square block of stamps; usually four.

Stock album: An album with plastic strips to hold stamps. 

A Stamp Stock Album


Some of the most famous stamps:


British Guyana 1 cent Magneta, 1856:


Said to be the most famous and rare of all the stamps by philatelist. Only one of its kinds is known to exist today. Several controversies surrounding the originality of the stamp, its estimated price (Stanley Gibbon catalogue price) is more than one and a half million pounds.

Mauritius “Post Office”, 1847: 



These stamps have legendary status among philately enthusiasts. Instead of imprinting “Post Paid”, erroneously, “Post Office” was printed. This error was corrected in later issues. The design was inspired from ‘Black Pennies’. Estimated price: one million pounds.


Inverted Head Four Annas, India 1854: 



It is an error variety of first lithos of India. The head of the Queen was mistakenly printed upside down. A few of such survive including one in the Govt. of India collection, New Delhi.

Scinde Dawks, 1852: 
 


First stamps of Asia.

Black Pennies, 1840: 


First stamps of the world.

Inverted Jenny, US, 1918:



Image of the aero plane was accidently printed upside down. Estimated price: half a million dollars.

Mahatma Gandhi, Rs 10, “Service” Overprint, 1948: 



The Rs. 10 stamp was among the commemorative stamps issued on Gandhi and was for a brief period a hundred stamps were used as revenue stamps by Rajagopalachari, Governor of India. Later, it was observed that commemorative stamps should not be used as revenue stamps. Only eight such stamps survive. Forgeries of ‘Service’ overprint are known to exist.   

Azad Hind Series:


Stamps designed in Nazi Germany for Subhash Chandra Bose's. These were un-perforated and never used (after unsuccessful attempt by the army to get freedom).

© Rakesh 2011

Thursday, 6 October 2011

“A Brief History of India’s Integration”


Background

The boundaries of India were never clearly defined. In ancient times, anything beyond Indus was India. Maurya and Gupta dynasties integrated the whole subcontinent into their empire and India arguably was at its peak in art and civilization. The arrival of Moghuls in medieval times meant new heights in culture and refinement at the cost of religious and ethnic intolerance. The fall of Moghuls in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries meant disintegration of the empire into several smaller states. The European traders: Portuguese, French, British, Dutch and Danish seized the opportunities as well as they could. The British prevailed among them all with a handful of port enclaves coming under the possession of French and Portuguese. Dutch and Danish had little or no control around their trade ports and factories and they co-existed along with other traders. By the middle of the nineteenth century, half of the Indian peninsula was under British control and the other half consisted of princely-states. British diplomacy meant that these states were more or less suzerain-states of British Empire. Their loyalties and independence dependent on the treaties they underwent with them. Twentieth century saw a wave against colonialism around the world and struggle for independence in British Empire meant two independent states: India and Pakistan in 1947; divided on the lines of religion. Pakistan consisting of predominantly Muslim populace and India consisting of a majority of Hindu , a large but minority population of Muslims, and Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians and several other ethnic and religious groups as minorities. At the time of independence, there were close to 570 existent princely states; in area as small as Vatican City to as large as France. The British had considerable suzerainty over around 200 of these states. These states were given the choice to either join India or Pakistan, chiefly in accordance with the religious considerations. They could even choose to remain independent of the two, if they desired so.

Chief Architects

Vallabhbhai Patel and his secretary VP Menon (a renowned civil servant) took the task of unification of India for the first time after centuries. It further helped that the nation had somewhat pro-Indian governor: Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten used his influence on the princely states to coax them into joining India as most of such states would be politically and economically unsustainable due to geographical constraints. He also declared that the British Empire will not get into diplomatic relations with any such states and will not include them in Commonwealth, which meant no political recognization. Some states felt betrayed as they always had always considered the British to be their ally. Winston Churchill lamented Mountbatten and compared the acts of his and Congress to that of the Nazis. In the next two years, Patel and Menon flied all over the country nonstop and used every trick in the book to force the princely states into joining India. It further helped that most of these rulers were infamous for their brutality over their populace and their people saw a merger into India as a brighter promise. Some states voluntarily acceded, some were threatened, some were allowed to have their privy-purses and pensions. Some were provided more autonomy (which India could cease anyway later on). Contrary to Nehruvian philosophy of peaceful negotiations, for Patel, the means did not matter. Only the end did. The integration of India is arguably the finest example of diplomacy seen anywhere in the history of the world. The reason which lead to onset of British Empire in India, also lead to the fall of princely states into India: lack of unity among the states.

Rajputana States

Jinnah was keen to attract the larger border states into Pakistan, chiefly: Jodhpur(Marwar) and Jaisalmer. He reportedly signed a blank white paper and cajoled the Maharaja of Jodhpur to sign accession at any conditions he desired and also promised him better terms of autonomy and lifestyle. Jinnah believed that these two border states could further set way to accession of other Rajputana states and this would compensate him for the loss of Punjab and Bengal. Mounbattern quickly pointed out that joining of majority Hindu states into Pakistan would undermine the existence of two state’s theory based on religion. The Maharaja of Jaisalmer further believed that this would be a betrayal to this populace and other Rajputana states will forgo ties with him. The young twenty-two year old Maharaja of Jodhpur, Hanwant Singh, desired his large state to remain autonomous or at least wanted to negotiate better terms so as to lead his lavish lifestyle.  Patel made sure that Jodhpur did not become Hyderabad and a diplomatic mission led by Menon and Mountbatten forced Hanwant Singh to sign the treaty of accession. He wanted the imperialists to leave but he was fervently against the dhoti-clad Congressmen. He even tossed with the idea of asking the UN for help. Amid high drama, he signed the accession. The Viceroy left the room and Hanwant Singh was left alone with Menon. Frustrated, he took out his .22 barrel piston, pointed towards Menon and roared, “I refuse to take your dictation.” Added some words on his Surya clan ancestry (they claim to be descendants of Lord Ram) and threatened Menon of dire consequences if he ever betrayed his people. Menon, with his cool South Indian bureaucratic head is said to have replied, “If you think killing me or threatening to kill me will abrogate this treaty, you’re wrong.” Other than his eccentric manners, Hanwant Singh was highly regarded among his people. He personally went and asked all the Muslims in the walled city to stay rather than leave for Pakistan. “It will be my insult if you leave me.” he said. With all the atrocities and communal violence during partition, Jodhpur remained calm. He later somewhat audaciously (Nehru threatened to revoke the privy purses if princes entered politics) fought the first general election against the Congress in the state along with thirty-four of his supporters. Thirty one of them won and Congress leaders could hardly save their deposits. He died in a plane crash an eve before he could know of his victory.
States like Bikaner and Jaipur acceded on patriotic grounds voluntarily. Some entered into negotiations. Some like Tonk and Kishangarh were too small to resist. And in the “bulldozering” of Patel, all the close to twenty states of Rajputana acceded to India. Little did they know that reorganization of their states was to be followed. Rajputana was later reorganized as the Indian state of Rajasthan. In a matter of a couple of years, identity of  all the Rajputana was lost. Indira Gandhi later in 1971 abolished all the privy-purses and pensions these rulers had negotiated.

Deccan States

Close to thirty small states in the southern presidency of Bombay. The reorganization meant that the southern states of Bombay went to Mysore (later renamed Karnataka). Bombay itself was divided into Maharastra and Gujrat.

Punjab States

Close to forty states in Panjab and Simla Presidency acceded either to India or Pakistan on the lines of religion.

Gwalior

Close to a dozen smaller states of Gwalior presidency had their treaties nullified with British Empire at the stroke of midnight 15Th Aug 1947. These were integrated into the Indians state of Madhya Bharat. (Later Madhya Pradesh) Some were integrated in Uttar Pradesh.

Central States

Chiefly consisting of Indore, Malwa, Bhopal, Bhopawar and others were integrated in the Indian state of Madhya Bharat.
Bhopal was one of the larger states wanting to remain independent on the pretext of maintaining its secularity. A little threatening diplomacy did the trick.

Eastern States 

Popular national sentiments meant that provinces in modern day Orrisa and Bihar be merged with India. There were no major hindrances across these provinces.

North Eastern States

The issue of NEFA (North East Frontier Agency) was a complex one. Some of the states had completely different ethnicity and history and did not relate to India et all. Patel knew of the strategic importance of these regions. Modern Day Arunanchal Pradesh became part of British Empire according to Simla Accord 1913 between British, Tibet and China. A McMohan line was drawn along Indo-Sino border by a British Official Henry McMohan. China did not agree to the entire accord and left in between. It was completed between Tibet and British and modern day region of Arunanchal came under British and subsequently Indian control. The entire McMohan line is still a major bone of contention in Indo-Sino relations. China still claims Arunanchal to be part of southern Tibet. Naga tribes pressed for separate state of their own on basis of ethnicity. Army was sent to the region in 1955 and under negotiations, it became a Union Territory with reasonable autonomy. In 1963, it was granted a statehood.
The queen of Tripura under severe political pressure signed the merger on behalf of her teen child.
Manipur, despite establishing democracy, was controversially annexed in 1949.

Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan

Nepal was recognized as an independent state by British Empire and was not merged. Bhutan was a protectorate state of British and a treaty with India meant that it became close to a suzerain state of India “abiding by the advice of India in external affairs”. In return, it was provided some of the controversial regions of Bengal.
Sikkim was given full internal autonomy with communications, external affairs and defense coming under India’s control (partial merger treaty). A referendum was conducted under Indian Army with 97% of the votes going in favor of integration with India and Sikkim became a state of India. The fairness of the referendum is often debated but it was a significant diplomatic achievement of Indira Gandhi’s governance.

Travancore

Travancore pointed out its thorium reserves to international community to gain recognition. But the ruler did not have support of his subjects. An attempt to assassinate his chief forced him to merger with India.

Junagarh

Junagarh in Gujrat was a small port province with a Muslim ruler but majority of Hindi subjects. It chose to accede to Pakistan defying Mountbatten on the grounds that it could be reached Pakistan mainland by sea-link. Patel had ancestral roots at the province. Also, the Hindu deity at Sarnath proved out to be more emotional and less rational reason in the mind of Patel. Forces were sent and the province and port was surrounded by the Indian troops. All supply and communications were annexed. The Nawab fled to Pakistan. A demand for plebiscite was raised in the UN but before the UN could take any diplomatic measures, a plebiscite was help under Indian control and 99% of the voters opted for integration to India. Pakistan accused India of breaking international laws and rigging the elections.

Hyderabad

The fanatic Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to remain independent. In spite of eighty percent of his subjects being Hindu, he resisted merger with India. He even sent diplomatic missions to Europe and got into agreement with Portuguese to either lend or sell port at Goa. He had slightly pro-Pakistan sentiments and donated the Pakistani government Rs 200 crore to overcome the financial crisis it was facing. (He was regarded as the richest person of his times) Patel sent troops to Hyderabad under Operation Polo and Hyderabad was annexed and merged in four days.

Kashmir

Out of all the princely states, Kashmir remains the most contentious region among India and Pakistan. It had a Muslim Majority but a Hindi oppressive king, Maharaja Hari Singh. Pakistan laid claim on Kashmir citing the majority of Muslim subjects. An ideal and peaceful negotiation would have been to divide the state into Kashmir, with majority of Muslim subjects going to Pakistan. Jammu, with majority of Hindu subjects along with Ladakh, with majority of Buddhists going to India.  Nehru was a Kashmiri Pandit and his reasons to have Kashmir were slightly emotional. Hari Singh signed standstill agreements with India and Pakistan, and wanted to stay independent. Thus delaying the merger. Shortly after independence, Pathan tribesmen, supported by Pakistan Army crossed the border and rapidly marched towards Srinagar. Hari Singh asked for help and agreed to sign Instrument of Accession. Patel immediately wanted to send troops but was stopped by Nehru who insisted on having the document signed first to abide International Laws. After Hari Singh came to Delhi and signed the merger in presence of Nehru, Patel, and Mountbatten, all the private air carriers were called and troops were airlifted to Srinagar. Till then a major portion of North-West Kashmir (now PoK) was already occupied. India secured Jammu, Srinagar and some portions of valley but winter made sure that further movement was thwarted.
In a diplomatic faux, Nehru declared a ceasefire and took the issue to the UN. The UN recognized the Line of Actual Control and passed a resolution to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan refused take their troops back and the plebiscite was never held. Pakistan argued that a plebiscite be held solely in India Administered Kashmir. India now argues that subsequent successful elections in state have reinforced Kashmir’s integrity to India. Some fractions of Kashmir and Pakistan accuse India  of rigging the state elections and employing puppet government in the state. Kashmir today, is one of the most disputed regions in the world.

Lakshadweep

The news of India’s independence was yet to reach these islands. Patel realized that Pakistan could lay claim on these islands as majority of its subjects were Muslims. He sent a ship under Indian Navy and Indian flag was raised there.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Some British officials wanted to retain these islands to use them as strategic air-bases. Others wanted to settle Anglo-Indians and Anglo-Burmese populace. Neither did Nehru care much about these inhabitable islands. Mounbattern ensured that these islands are merged as well with India according to the Treaty of Accession. The tribal leader of Nicobar, on request, agreed to sell his land in symbolic exchange of Nehru’s jacket to the amusement of all.

French India

The accession of French India was mostly peaceful and diplomatic. A plebiscite was held in Chandernagore in 1949 with majority supporting merger with India. Referendums were held in Yanam, Mahe, Pondicherry and Karikal in 1954 and all the four enclaves were acceded to India finally in year 1962.

Portuguese India

Portuguese did not respond well to diplomatic solutions and wished to maintain the enclaves under their possessions. Dadra and Nagar Haveli witnessed uprising in 1954 were annexed. Portuguese tried to send troops to Daman and Diu but were stopped by Indian Army. Diu had the longest rule of colonialism anywhere in the world for close to 450 years. Portuguese made several failed attempts to justify their possession of Goa at UN and International Court. Although Nehru favored peaceful negotiations, a revolt in 1961 forced the arrival of Indian troops and Goa was merged with India. Portuguese raised the issue in UN Security Council but were vetoed by USSR.

Awaiting Integration?

India claims complete control over Jammu and Kashmir. Present Line of Control divides the region into PoK, Indian Administered Kashmir and Aksai Chin (area acceded by Pakistan to China).


©Rakesh 2011 

Friday, 20 May 2011

“The Maharajas of Rajasthan”



My childhood summers were mostly spent listening to the tales of the darbaar of Jodhpur from my granduncle who served as a comptroller at the palace. I vividly remember him telling, with drama and vivacity, an incident when the Maharaja ordered him to throw out the goods of a British gentleman who refused to pay any rent of the city-shop on reason of being an aadmi of the Raj. He was further asked to leave the state of Marwar before two sunsets considering that he had a family of four. The Colonial-Crown was falling in the country and his ousting was very much a symbolic grudge against the Raj. Day next and the rents of all the city-shops was muafed by an order to add salts to the injury.

Some other narrations which I half-remember were the crowd estimates, which would be generously raised every time he’d tell the magnanimity of the event , when the now titular Maharaja Gaj Singh-II came back from England after finishing his education. Some other were encomia of the Maharaja when he ‘saved’ half of his praja from starvation by giving them work during what was the most severe kaal(drought) ever in the State. And it resulted in what we now call The Umaid Palace, worlds largest and probably the most regal private property. Years have passed, but the majesticness and the awe has stood the test of time. I believed not and found the Discovery documentary “The Maharaja of Jodhpur” to be a fake but the disturbing sobs of the inconsolable Jaipur masses at the cremation of Maharani Gayatri Devi made me feel so much out of time. The death of Bhawani Singh, Maharaja of Jaipur some days back aroused similar emotions and the entire city was on roads. The royal wedding of Shivraj, Rajkumar of Jodhpur (who is an international Polo player and almost lost his life some five years back falling off an uncontrollable horse) this year would’ve beat the so much over-rated British Royal Wedding by any account. There is something in the regality in the erstwhile provinces of Rajasthan which still make people so much attached to it. The record electoral victories of the Rajkumars in the early ‘60s and ‘70s so much unsettled the Central Government that all the shahi-pensions and allowances of all princely states were stopped with immediate effect to discourage the trend. Still, the royal families have given some of the most competent officers to the Indian Army right since the World-Wars.

The forts are crumbling, the shades of blue and pink are fading, walls are being defaced and encroached and cities are expanding beyond the regal-gates of the towns but still there is a world still trapped in the past fearing of losing their identities and heritage. A world of nostalgia unable and unwilling to accept the death of aristocracy.

In picture: HH Maharaja of Jodhpur Gaj Singh-II (1948-Present)

©Rakesh 2011