ONCE UPON A TIME

Lecture delivered to a historical society by a distinguished professor of history on the occasion of its centenary at Chennai in India:

Ladies and gentlemen, It is my privilege to be here this day. I was asked to address you about the importance of preserving the past. When I arrived in this city after nearly three decades I cast my eyes eagerly to look at a certain equestrian statue of Sir Hector Munro which had graced an important road. It was no longer there and I asked the reason. The answer was the statues of British rulers were no longer relevant and so have been consigned to a museum. I recalled the graceful statue of the person on a horse. He was a friend of India and his statue was installed in gratitude. It was a very big statue sculpted in England and sent to India in an era when sea going was a hazard. I wondered about how in that age such a big statue was loaded and unloaded from a ship by manpower when no mechanical lifting devices were invented. And transporting to the installation site would have been formidable. There it was safe after a long sea voyage installed to perfection with traffic flowing around it. Memories crowd around a monument seen. The museum now held the statue.

Talking about equestrian statues, reminds me about their significance while being created. A statue with first hooves in the air signifies that the rider died in battle. If made with one leg up the rider was wounded in battle or died of battle wounds. In a certain city the rider of an equestrian statue was removed and the replica of a general was installed in his place. The general was very much alive and was holding an important political office. The horse had its two hooves in the air! Nobody noticed the significance! I happened to see the statue and saw that one leg of the horse which was on the ground had been repaired using cement. Possibly the result of the earlier statue having been pulled down in a hurry to accommodate the general’s statue! Accidents do happen. A dead general on a truly wounded horse!

I recall seeing the statue of Nelson without his monocle somewhere in North Africa. The attachment was perhaps separated and the rest of the statue was kept. The statue of a fire fighter had been installed in a city to commemorate the many who had died at the time and of the brave fire fighters who had died fighting a conflagration. There was once a tablet in place to indicate the relevance of the statue but it was lost. Somebody unknown had used his skill and using pieces of the fireman had created a large bird instead. The feeling was “Who wants to see a sculpted fire fighter when live ones could be seen everywhere?” People lacked the sense of history and significance of monuments.

I am a firm believer in preserving installed old monuments to understand their timing and significance. It could be something a usurper or conqueror had installed. Its removal cannot change history. I was once visiting a museum (was it in Chennai?)when I saw outside it 2 cannon on wheels with cannon balls stored alongside. One of them had an inscription that it had been used by the Portuguese in a certain battle if I remember right. When I saw it some months later the cannon balls were not to be seen. The inscription was also gone. Who wants the stone of cannon balls? We know those are obsolete so why bother about the stupid inscription telling me these are ancient? Luckily the cannon was massive and I thought I saw kids sliding over the muzzle. It was a satisfying sight to see the cannon still in position!

Names of roads take a hit and disappear when a party or government changes. In Chennai the city was developed by the British who decided to name streets and roads. Subsequent political avatars decided to change the names. The renaming could continue! I feel envious of cities which don’t rename. 10 Downing Street is one example. The other is 221B Baker Street the hallowed address of Sherlock Holmes, the imaginary character created by Conan Doyle who has almost come to life. In India we find street names changed, and door numbers altered many, many times. A common question asked when trying to identify a location is “Is it the old number or the new?” To add to the confusion some houses still display the obsolete number. You could be taken aback when you see the number 334 on a house and the number 221 next door!

I happened to have an old Muslim friend, He had passed on and his son took me to see his grave. Courtesy made me go with him. Of course I couldn’t read what was inscribed on the tombstone as it was in Urdu. Even in cemeteries grave sites become full and make way leaving the departed. I contrasted this with the Western cemeteries like the Pere Lachaise in Paris. Visiting it I saw wonderful sculptures like that on the tomb of Oscar Wilde by Jacob Epstein and so on. Here I went to a Hindu cemetery and saw the grave of a person shown to me. It had a simple inscription. I happened to revisit the place and lo and behold! I saw a rectangular structure over the same grave with the sculpture of a crow on it with spread wings on top. I was told the affluent family visits the grave annually and does such ‘improvements’ as it was called! Seeing these made me feel my country hasn’t changed much. I wished sights like these would continue but it would be unlikely as cemetery spaces are shrinking.

Someone led me to a busy shopping spot and told me “This is where Tipu Sultan’s army was positioned.” He said pointing “There was a large lake at the end of this road. The British it seems faced Tipu here and fought but had to withdraw.” The person who told me about the battle site is gone. When I later asked someone he said he had never heard of a battle in that area! I contrasted this with the battle of Waterloo in Belgium. The battle has been splendidly commemorated in the exact location where the battle took place. I wish such memorials are created in this country too.

The sense of honouring the past and commemorating it extends even to a sunken ship in Norway. The wreck of a ship recovered from the ocean is on display with sea water cascading on it to preserve it from decay. It was indeed sensational. The place is remembered due to the recovered ship. Where would Agra be without the Taj?

I strongly advise that we take a bold stand and resist changing names of memorials, roads and the like. Someone asked me “Why such advise? Are you expecting someone from the past to step down and find someone in a location?” Certainly not, but why do we recognize 10 Downing Street or 221B Baker street? These are symbols of significance for recognition and preserving the memory of the past and keeping them alive for future generations. Without dates without memorials we can only say once upon a time in the past! Thank you all!

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