Author Topic: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?  (Read 37182 times)

एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #21 on: October 15, 2007, 03:35:13 PM »

Jawahar Lal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India also spent a lot period in Almora Jail where he wrote the famous Book "Discovery of India.

See this article.

Nehru’s refreshing humour
K.J.S. Chatrath

Reading about the release of a new edition of Pandit Nehru’s letters to his sister has brought back an interesting episode to my mind. Searching for a book in the Orissa Government Secretariat library about a decade back, I chanced to see an old book. The book was Nehru’s Letters to His Sister (Krishna Nehru Hutheesing). This book gave me an amazing insight into Nehru’s personality.

Panditji was very fond of his little sister. There was a considerable age difference between the two and as Hutheesing herself explained in the "Introduction", she was treated more like a daughter, both by Panditji and his wife. The letters of Panditji address her affectionately as "Betty", Beti and, sometimes, as "Bets".

What struck me was that a good number of these 93 letters in the book had been written from various prisons where Panditji had been detained — Almora, Bareilly, Dehra Dun, Naini, Calcutta and Ahmadnagar. Some of the letters were written from his ancestral home Anand Bhavan in Allahabad. The first letter in the collection written from Delhi, dated February 21, 1931, gives the address as I, Daryagunj. Two letters, written in 1947, give the address of 17, York Road, while there are some letters which just say "Delhi". Only in the letter dated July 20, 1955, the address is given as "Prime Minister’s House, New Delhi".

Almost every letter introduces us to some aspect of Nehru’s humour. This subtle sense of humour comes even while mentioning the place from where the letter is written. The letter, written on June 30, 1945, notes the place of writing as "Running Train", while another letter that he wrote from a ship while returning from Ceylon records it as having been written from "S.S. Something". There is a nugget in the letter written from the ship which is worth quoting, "Kamla has often been taken for my daughter. But what do you say to Indu being taken for my mother? This has happened repeatedly." This shows the ability of Nehru to laugh at himself and his family.

When he got the news of the birth of a baby son to his sister, Panditji sent a lovely telegram on February, 2 1935, from Almora Jail. He wrote, "Cheerio get well soon darling and bring the howling infant here for display and criticism — love Jawahar". In his letter dated October 12, 1943, he jokes at the Nehrus. He writes, "November seems to have been a favourite month for the Nehrus to be born in". He was referring to the fact that he was born in November and so were Krishna Hutheesing and Indira Gandhi.

This delightful humour is also evident in his letters from the prison. From the Ahmadnagar Fort Prison on February 25, 1945, he wrote: "This is likely to be my last letter to you from Ahmadnagar Fort. Today we complete 960 days here — a long chunk of one’s life. But the longest lane has a turning somewhere and we turn to — another prison".

In his letter written on July 12 1953, from Delhi, when he came to know of a little accident his sister had met with and had injured her nose, he remarked tongue-in cheek. "I am glad to know that you are safely back with more or less a complete nose". He reports in his letter dated January 17, 1943, that a bottle of honey sent to him had broken down in the box during transit. "I gazed awestruck at the mess just one bottle of honey could make when given the chance to do so..." Two books in the box had also got covered with honey. And reaction of Panditji to it was sharp and sweet, "There was Zimmern’s book, but this Zimmern is and has always been a sticky person. And Lewis Carol? Was it a new adventure for Alice to float about in honey?"

There is a wonderful mix of humour and finality of views in his letter written from "Somewhere in India but not at Anand Bhavan, Allahabad" on September 18, 1942. He wrote, "I am horrified to learn that Raja (pet name of Krishna Hutheesing’s husband) is growing a beard. This is wholly inexcusable and you must tell him so."

Yes, Panditji’s brand of humour was unique and refreshing.

Here is photo of Nehru Ji with his wife kamla nehru.

Anubhav / अनुभव उपाध्याय

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #22 on: October 15, 2007, 04:27:17 PM »
Great work Suchira ji and Mehta ji keep it up.

suchira

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #23 on: October 15, 2007, 07:12:04 PM »
Ruskin Bond-An icon of Indian literature

Ruskin Bond (19 May 1934 -) is an Indian author of British descent. He was born in Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) and has lived in Landour since the 1960s, having previously also lived, as a child and young man, in Shimla, Jamnagar, Mussoorie, Dehradun, and London. Most of his writings show a strong influence from the social life in the hill stations at foothills of the Himalayas, where he spent his childhood. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature.
As a writer, he is as productive as ever in his early seventies, and gets many of his ideas by reminiscing while gazing out of the windows of his apartment towards the Lower Western Himalaya, the Pauri Hills and the Doon Valley from his perch atop Mullingar Hill in Landour Cantonment. He can always reach into his rich life experience, especially his childhood and early adulthood, for yet another story line or another evocative character.
Over the course of a writing career spanning forty years, he has written over a hundred short stories, essays, novels, and more than thirty books for children.

Ruskin Bond received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English writing in India for 1992, for "Our Trees Still Grow In Dehra".

A tv series based on his stories was adapted into a popular serial "ek tha rusty" (once there was rusty )on doordarshan . Recently one of Ruskin Bond’s short stories has been adapted by Vishal Bharadwaj into a Bollywood movie called The Blue Umbrella (2005) (also credited as Chatri Chor) directed by Vishal Bharadwaj. Bond’s story, A Flight of Pigeons, set in pre-independence India was also made into a movie, Junoon (1978) by director Shyam Benegal.




 Ruskin Bond at his home in Mussoorie.

suchira

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #24 on: October 15, 2007, 07:21:38 PM »
The Doon School

The Doon School is one of the most prestigious public schools and boarding schools in India.It is located in Dehra Dun, in the state of Uttarakhand.



Old boys of the school (a.k.a. ex-doscos) who have achieved prominence in politics include:

    * Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
    * 6 Cabinet Ministers, including Kamal Nath, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Karan Singh
    * 15 Members of the Indian Parliament, including Sanjay Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Jyotiraditya Scindia
    * 2 Chief Ministers (Naveen Patnaik and Amarinder Singh)
    * the ex-Governor of Pakistani Punjab Lt. Gen. Jilani Khan and the former secretary general of the government of Pakistan Rafiq Akram.

Doscos who have served as government officials include 23 Ambassadors and numerous heads of departments. And Doscos who have served in the armed forces of India and Pakistan include 17 generals, 2 admirals and 4 air marshals.
Rajiv Gandhi (ex 203K '60)
Rajiv Gandhi (ex 203K '60)

The writers Vikram Seth and Amitav Ghosh, journalists Prannoy Roy and Karan Thapar, film actors Roshan Seth and Chandrachur Singh, Academy Award nominated director Ashvin Kumar, social worker Bunker Roy, and sculptor Anish Kapoor, are all Doscos. The first Indian Rhodes Scholar was a Dosco.

The vast majority of Doscos are Indians, but a dwindling number are from Pakistan: they studied at Doon before Partition forced them to leave in 1947. Bangladeshi boys continue to study at the school even today, as do boys from Nepal. The members of the Royal Rana household of Nepal also have studied here. In 1998 The Chand Bagh School was established by Pakistani Doscos approximately 40 km north of Lahore, Pakistan.

Jana Gana Mana by Rabindranath Tagore was chosen as the school song in 1935. The song was adopted by India as the national anthem in 1947.

sanjupahari

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #25 on: October 16, 2007, 04:00:09 AM »
Arey bhaiyyaaa ye suchira ji and Mehta ji to khazaana hai information ka....bhai meri taraf se Dec main 2-2 karma dono ko,,,,sach main kya info hai.....salute to both d members ,,,,>>
JAI UTTARAKHAND

suchira

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #26 on: October 25, 2007, 12:25:09 PM »
Tom Alter

Tom Alter (born 1950) is an Indian actor of American origin. As a thespian and television actor, he is most prominently known for his work in Hindi language Indian cinema.

A native of the small Uttarakhand city of Mussoorie[1], Tom Alter is the son of American missionaries and has lived for years between the metropolis of Mumbai and the Himalayan hill station of Landour. As a child, he studied Hindi and Urdu and, as a result, has occasionally been referred to as the "Blue-eyed saheb with the impeccable Hindi".

Alter is uniquely talented for his fluency in Hindi and knowledge of Indian culture. He has worked for noted filmmakers like Satyajit Ray in Shatranj Ke Khiladi (The Chess Players) and Ismail Merchant. In Sardar, the 1993 film biography of Indian leader Sardar Patel, which focused on the events surrounding the partition and independence of India, Tom Alter portrayed Lord Mountbatten. He has also played Indian characters in Indian television series, such as the long-running Junoon, in which he was the sadistic mob lord Keshav Kalsi.

In 1996 he appeared in the Assamese-language film Adajya, and in 2007 acted in the theatrical reproduction of William Dalrymple's City of Djinns alongside Zohra Sehgal,Manish Joshi Bismil and Rahul Pulkeshi.

Tom Alter's first cousin Stephen Alter, also born and raised in India, is a notable author and teacher. Tom and Stephen are graduates of Woodstock School, Mussoorie.



# Bheja Fry (2007) .... Dr. Shepard
# One Night with the King (2006) .... King Saul (prologue)
# Alag: He Is Different.... He Is Alone... (2006) .... Dr. Richard Dyer
# The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006) (TV) .... Lord Eastcliff
# The Hangman (2005) .... Father Mathew
# The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey (2005) .... Watson
... aka Mangal Pandey (India: Hindi title)
... aka Mangal Pandey: The Rising (India: English title)
# Viruddh... Family Comes First (2005) .... Anderson (British Consultate)
# Subhash Chandra Bose (2005) .... British Army
# Veer-Zaara (2004)
... aka Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara (India: English title: complete title)
# Asambhav (2004) .... Brian
# Aetbaar (2004) .... Dr. Freddie
... aka Aitbaar (India: Hindi title: alternative transliteration)
# Ghar Grihasti (2004) .... Drug smuggler
# Silence Please... The Dressing Room (2004) .... Cricket coach Ivan Rodrigues
# Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo (2003)
# Dhund: The Fog (2003) .... Uncle Tom
# Love at Times Square (2003)
# Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002) .... Special Appearance
# Bharat Bhagya Vidhata (2002) .... Mohammed Jalaudin Ghaznavi
# On Wings of Fire (2001)
# Veer Savarkar (2001)
# Champion (2000) .... Doctor
# Shaheed Uddham Singh: Alais Ram Mohammad Singh Azad (2000) .... Brig. Gen. Edward Harry Dwyer

# "Betaal Pachisi" (1997) TV Series
# Divine Lovers (1997) .... Dr. Taubman
# Aatank (1996) (uncredited) .... Khan's Man
# Adajya (1996) .... Mark Sahib
# Kala Pani (1996)
... aka Kalaa Paani (India: Hindi title: alternative transliteration)
... aka Kalapani (India: Malayalam title: alternative transliteration)
... aka Saza-E-Kala Pani (India: Hindi title: dubbed version)
... aka Sirai Chaalai (India: Tamil title)
# Sandhya Chhaya (1995) (TV) .... Elder Son's Friend
# Milan (1995) .... Father Demello
# Oh Darling Yeh Hai India (1995) .... Bidder
# Insaniyat (1994) .... British Intelligence
# Gumrah (1993) .... Insp. Phillip
... aka Astray
# Junoon (1992)
... aka Obsession
# Suryavanshi (1992) .... Tom
# Farishtay (1991) .... (Guest Appearance)
# Zimmedaaar (1990) .... Mercus
# Doodh Ka Karz (1990) .... Frank
# Aashiqui (1990) .... Arnie Campbell
... aka Romance
... aka Young Love (International: English title)

# Bye Bye Blues (1989) .... Gilbert Wilson
# Tridev (1989) .... Dunhill
# Daata (1989) .... Pat
# Vardi (1989) .... Tom
# Aakhri Badla (1989)
# Parinda (1989) .... Musa
... aka The Pigeon (India: English title)
# Commando (1988) .... Hatcher
# "Bharat Ek Khoj" (1988) TV Series
... aka The Discovery of India
# Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) .... Plastic Surgeon
# Ore Thooval Pakshikal (1988)
# Sone Pe Suhaaga (1988) .... Dr. Rex
# Chambal Ka Badshah (1986)
# Karma (1986) .... Rexson
# Sultanat (1986) .... Shah
... aka Karname Kamal Ke (India: Hindi title)
... aka The Sultanate
# Shart (1986) .... Alter
# Bond 303 (1986)
# Car Thief (1986) .... John
# Palay Khan (1986)
# Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) .... Karam Singh
# Arpan (1983) .... Tom
# Nastik (1983) .... Mr. John
... aka The Atheist
# Romance (1983) .... Priest
# Vidhaata (1982) .... David
# Gandhi (1982) .... Doctor at Aga Khan Palace
... aka Richard Attenborough's Film: Gandhi (USA: complete title)
# Tahalka (1982) .... Dong's army captain
# "Nouvelle malle des Indes, La" (1981) (mini) TV Series .... Le gouverneur
... aka Wettlauf nach Bombay (West Germany)
# Kudrat (1981) .... Major Thomas Walters
... aka Nature
# Kranti (1981) .... English General

# Hum Tere Ashiq Hain (1979) .... British Police Commissioner
# Salaam Memsaab (1979) .... John
# Naukri (1978) .... Mr. Anderson
# Des Pardes (1978) .... Inspector Martin
... aka At Home and Abroad
# Junoon (1978) .... Priest
... aka A Flight of Pigeons
... aka Possessed
... aka The Obsession
# Kaala Aadmi (1978) (as Tom Altar)
# Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin (1977) .... Jack
# Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) .... Capt. Weston (Outram's aide de camp)
... aka The Chess Players
# Kanneshwara Rama (1977)
# Parvarish (1977) .... Mr. Jackson
# Ram Bharose (1977) .... Tom
# Charas (1976)
# Laila Majnu (1976)

एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #27 on: October 25, 2007, 12:32:03 PM »

PEOPLE..... CONNECTION WITH UK.

Ananda Shankar

Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 - 26 March 1999) was an Indian musician best known for fusing Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to Tanushree Shankar.

Early life
Born in Almora in Uttar Pradesh, India, Shankar was the son of Amala and Uday Shankar, popular dancers, and also the nephew of renowned sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead with Dr. Lalmani Misra in Varanasi.

 Professional career
In the late 1960s Shankar travelled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians including Jimi Hendrix. There he was signed to Reprise Records and released his first self-titled album in 1970, featuring original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover versions of popular hits such as The Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash and The Doors' Light My Fire. This album has become an enduring cult classic.[citation needed]

Returning to India in the early 1970s Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his most critically acclaimed album, Ananda Shankar And His Music, a jazz-funk mix of Eastern sitar, Western rock guitar, tabla and mridangam, drums and Moog synthesizers. Out of print for many years, Ananda Shankar And His Music was re-released on CD in 2005.

After working in India during the late 1970s and 1980s, Shankar's profile in the West began to rise again in the mid-1990s as his music found its way into club DJ sets, particularly in London. His music was brought to a wider audience with the release of Blue Note Records' popular 1996 rare groove compilation album, Blue Juice Vol. 1., featuring the two standout tracks from Ananda Shankar And His Music, "Dancing Drums" and "Streets Of Calcutta".

In the late 1990s Shankar worked and toured in the United Kingdom with London DJ State of Bengal and others, a collaboration that would result in the Walking On album, featuring Shankar's trademark sitar soundscapes mixed with breakbeat and hip hop. Walking On was released in 2000 after Shankar's sudden death from heart failure the year before.

In 2005, his song Raghupati would be featured on the Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories soundtrack.


एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #28 on: October 25, 2007, 12:34:02 PM »

Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks KCB KBE DSO MC (September 7, 1895 - January 4, 1985) was a British military officer. He is chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during World War II. Later in life he gained further fame as a television presenter and as Black Rod in the House of Lords.


[edit] Early life & First World War
Horrocks was the son of Sir William Horrocks, a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Like many sons of officers, he received his education in a boarding school in England and later, in 1913, he entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, second-bottom of the entry class. He was an unpromising student and may not have received a commission had the circumstances not changed abruptly.

With the outbreak of the First World War he joined the Middle* Regiment, where he joined the retreat of the army following the Battle of Mons. Horrocks was shot through the stomach when his unit was surrounded at the Battle of Armentières and was captured. He was taken to a hospital where he was interrogated by his German captors, who believed that the British Army were using dum-dum bullets, and was refused a change of clothes or sheets. As a result his wounds became infected. He had a better experience when eventually discharged from the hospital and he made friends with the soldier who escorted him to the prisoner of war camp. Horrocks made a number of escape attempts whilst a prisoner, during one he came within 500 m of the Dutch border before being caught. At one point he was placed in a compound consisting solely of Russian officers as an attempt to prevent his escape attempts. He used the time to learn Russian and years later, when working in the House of Commons, he surprised Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin by greeting them in Russian.

On his return to England Horrocks had trouble adapting to peace-time conditions. He spent four years of back-pay in six weeks, indulging himself in hedonistic trips to London. However, he soon found an opportunity to return to active service.

Inter-war period
After the war Horrocks was posted to Russia as part of the British mission during the Russian Civil War. After landing in Vladivostock on April 19, 1919 he was taken to the British headquarters and briefed on the situation. The White Army under Admiral Kolchak, with the assistance of released Czechoslovak Legion prisoners, had driven the Red Army out of Siberia. The Czech troops were planning to return home and replacement Russian troops were urgently required. The British contingent was there to assist in training and arming these replacements. To carry out this task they had only a battalion of regular British soldiers and two small administrative missions, one tasked with arming and training the Russian troops and one to assist in administering the lines of communication for the White Army.

A platoon of British soldiers with fourteen officers, including Horrocks, were given the task of guarding a train full of shells for delivery to the White Army in Omsk, three thousand miles away on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Afterwards they were to report to the British mission to begin training troops. The journey took over a month to complete, with numerous administrative difficulties which Horrocks, as the only Russian speaker, had to overcome.

Horrocks' next destination was Yekaterinburg where he was appointed second in command of a NCO training school attached to the Anglo-Russian Brigade.

He was again captured by the Red Army and spent the next ten months as a prisoner, narrowly surviving a severe case of typhus.

With the end of active service, Horrocks looked for something else to occupy his time and decided to take up the modern pentathlon. He competed in army tournaments and, eventually, the 1924 Paris Olympics. Horrocks spent the remainder of the inter-war years in a variety of postings, including as an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, and as adjutant for the 9th Battalion, Middle* Regiment of the Territorial Army. This provided experience of dealing with citizen soldiers which would be invaluable during the war. Horrocks later said they were among his happiest experiences.

एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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Re: CONNECTION OF FAMOUS PERSONALITIES WITH NAINITAL AND OTHER PLACES OF UK ?
« Reply #29 on: October 25, 2007, 12:35:24 PM »

ALMORA...

Uday Shankar

Uday Shankar (December 8, 1900 – September 26, 1977) (Bengali: উদয় শংকর) was a world renowned classical dancer and choreographer from India.

Born in Udaipur, Rajasthan to a Bengali family with origins in Narail (in modern-day Bangladesh), he was trained in the art in Bombay. He later studied at the Royal College of Art in London and danced along with ballerina Anna Pavlova. He created ballets based on Hindu themes like Radha-Krishna, Hindu weddings and other oriental themes for Anna. During the 1930s, Uday toured through the western world along with his own troupe. His adaptation of western theatrical techniques to Indian dance made his art hugely popular both in India and the West, while his brother Ravi Shankar helped popularize Indian classical music in the West.

He had married Amala Shankar and they had a son Ananda Shankar and a daughter Mamata Shankar. While Ananda Shankar was a musician and music composer who trained with Dr. Lalmani Misra rather than his uncle, Ravi Shankar, Mamata Shankar is a dancer like her parents and is also a noted actress, working in films by Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. Uday Shankar also made a film on dance entitled Kalpana.

He established a dance center at Almora, on the foothills of the Himalayas, and invited Shankaran Nambudirei for Kathakali, Kandappa Pillai for Bharatanatyam, Amobi Singh for Manipuri and Ustad Allauddin Khan for music.

Uday was awarded Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India and the Desikottama by the Visva-Bharati University.

 

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