Changing Flames: Images From a ‘New’ Bengal |
Listen to this article:
Mirza Ghalib, who lived through the siege of Delhi in 1857, wrote haunting accounts about Delhi’s desolation after the power shift. In a letter to one of his friends, Ghalib wrote: “Bhai, kya poochte ho? Kya likhoon? Dilli ki hasti munasir kai hungamon par thi, Qila, Chandni Chowk, har roz ka bazaar-e-Jami Masjid, har hafte ki sair-e-muna-e-Jamuna, har saal ka mela Phool-walon ka. Yeh paanchon baatein ab nahin. Phir kaho, Dilli kahan? Haan, koi sheher qalamrow-e-Hind mein is naam ka tha.” (Delhi meant the Fort, the Chandni Chowk, the daily bazaar near Jama Mosque, the weekly trip to the Jamuna Bridge, the........