Fireside chat with Jahnavi Prasada on Nainital, heritage, and community

 

Brewing Knowledge Friday

Fireside chat on Nainital, heritage, and community

Key Takeaways

• Nainital as “living heritage” → personal memories + historical documentation; book born from 10–15 years of on-ground observation and archiving

• Preservation vs change → advocate preserving viable heritage; accept smart infrastructure change where necessary; ~80% buildings not preserved, ~40% gone

• Himalayan Echoes (Kumaon Literature & Arts) matured to a boutique, mountain-voices festival → 10th edition; ~25–26 authors; ~300 attendees cap; non-political, environment-forward

• Reading advocacy needs hand-holding and simplification → short formats, visuals, school programs (Reader Leader in 4 govt. schools), podcasts as complements, not replacements

Opening and Context

• Weekly Friday 5:30pm The English Book Depot conversation; guest: author-curator Janhavi Prasada (Nainital: Memory + History + Identity)

• Coordination; hybrid presence from Dehradun/Delhi; Sneha hosts as EBD intern

Early Memories and Sense of Place

• Daily dawn imagery → Sher Ka Danda ridge; Deopata peak; Gayatri Mantra; birds on a walnut tree

• Childhood texture → free-range hills life: tree climbing, wild berries, nettle stings; continuity into adulthood (seasonal light, monsoon rainbows)

Realising Heritage (Later, not as a child)

• Awareness matured in teens; initially took setting for granted (long school days, Doordarshan/VCR era)

• Family home, Abbotsford (purchased 1906) → Tagore family link via grandmother; ship consignment of artefacts (life-size marble Roman busts; chandeliers)

• Early casualness (artefacts outdoors) → later conservation mindset; brought artefacts inside; learned why “no dirty shoes/no running” rules existed.

Journey to Documentation and Writing

• Media path → Cardiff (broadcast journalism); Pioneer; ANI/Reuters; DD; Channel News Asia

• Return to Nainital to steward Abbotsford; aim: experiences with meaning, not generic hospitality.

• Graphic novel adaptation of Gandhi’s autobiography (HarperCollins) → visual/brief-sentence style foundation

• Nainital book emerged after a decade+ of photos, interviews, and noticing transitions (buildings decaying, people ageing/absent post-COVID)

Style and Format Choices

• Intentional brevity → TV-influenced short lines; accessible non-fiction

• Rationale → today’s low attention spans; visuals aid retention; preference for graphic/concise formats to keep radical ideas readable

Heritage: Preserve vs Evolve

• Position: preserve when possible; share to sustain (Abbotsford as boutique stay; book as scalable “guide”)

• Acknowledges financial strain; calls on educated/able owners to conserve and open to the public

• Infrastructure pressure example → single entry/exit roads; lower road lost sections to the lake; locals resist change but embrace good design-led solutions

Himalayan Echoes: Kumaon Festival of Literature & Arts

• Origin → built Nainital Book Club first (30–40 regulars), then launched the festival

• Scale shift → from 5 authors/50 attendees (at Abbotsford) to ~25–26 authors/~300 attendees over 2.5 days; boutique by design to protect quality

• Focus → mountain/trans-Himalayan voices; environment, climate, sustainability; non-political stance despite political lineage

• Notables → Lobsang Sangay is a Tibetan-American politician in exile who was Kalon Tripa of the Tibetan Administration in India  (CTA, PM-in-exile). Patrick French, Manisha Koirala, Shobhaa De; mentor: Namita Gokhale; speakers from Ireland/Sweden

• Identity after 10 years → serious, culturally grounded, environment-forward think space

Community Reading Programs

• Reader Leader Project → 4 govt. junior schools; mini-libraries; weekly volunteer-led sessions with props to normalise reading

• Target equity → prioritise govt. schools for author access; post-festival school programs; expansion to village schools

• Sneha/Sandeep align on making reading “flavourful” via mixed media (on-screen texts + conversations)

Food, Bakeries, and Local Flavour

• Personal house favourites served at Abbotsford Cafe → Irish stew (weekly), UP kebabs, mulligatawny soup, jelly custard, caramel custard, apple crumb.

• Heritage bakeries → Bakery No. 6 (~1921) fresh macarons noted; “Lotte Wala Jalebi” as an enduring local institution

• Travel ethos → savour local farmer ’s-market-style foods; concern: domestic tourists often default to 5-star staples over local cuisine.

Walks, Fauna, and Safety

• “Walk in Heaven” chapter → post-festival ritual 1-hr forest walk; cemetery walk (WW veterans, POWs, carved epitaphs), mist, woodpeckers, treepies, barking deer.

• Leopards (bagh/tendua) are omnipresent in hill life → safety practice: avoid solo walks after 6pm; if alone, keep talking to deter approach (keen hearing)

• Personal loss → first pet Pomeranian, taken by leopard; underscores coexistence realities in hill towns

Reading: How to Start

• You can’t force reading; reduce intimidation with hand-holding and simple, short visual content.

• Make reading casual, everyday; use podcasts as complements, not substitutes; NGOs and community hubs are essential for scaffolding.

AI-generated content by FATHOM AI.

Organic Purpose in Life's Journey

Brewing Knowledge Friday

Amardeep Singh discusses his heritage documentation and personal journey.

Key Takeaways

• “Accidental Author” Journey: A corporate career ended in 2014, freeing Singh to pursue a lifelong passion for history. This led to documenting Sikh heritage in Pakistan, a project he views as a personal calling to contribute to society.

• Challenging Official Narratives: Singh’s work counters state-sponsored history (e.g., Pakistan’s) that omits or demonises the Sikh era. He uses historical evidence, like syncretic frescoes, to reveal a more complex, shared past.

• Partition’s Unequal Impact: The partition’s impact was uneven. Punjab was divided, but Sindh, Kashmir, and Balochistan were uprooted entirely. This explains the Sindhi community’s focus on commerce, as they lost all land-based assets.

• Current Project: Singh is translating the Guru Granth Sahib into “metaphoric English” to make its wisdom globally accessible. He has completed 1/3 of the project (1,653 verses) and is seeking resources to finish the remaining 2/3.

Topics

The “Accidental Author” Journey

• Singh’s corporate career ended in 2014, providing the opportunity to pursue a lifelong interest in history.

• Motivation: A personal calling to document the heritage left behind by his ancestors in Pakistan, fulfilling a sense of social contribution.

• Challenges:

  • Access: Navigating a geopolitically sensitive region as an Indian national.

  • Logistics: Researching 36 cities/villages in 30 days (Book 1) and 90 in 60 days (Book 2) on a tight budget.

  • Funding: Self-funding the project required a significant shift from a corporate mindset.

• Emotional Moment: Finding his distant aunt, Jaswanti (now Noori), in Rawalpindi, who was separated from her family during the 1947 Kashmir conflict.

Challenging Official Narratives

• Singh’s work challenges state-sponsored histories that present a black-and-white past.

• Pakistan’s Narrative: Omits the Sikh era (1799–1849) and demonises figures like Ranjit Singh.

• Historical Evidence: Singh uses art and architecture to reveal a more complex, syncretic past.

  • Bhomanshah Darbar Frescoes: Show empowered women leading hunts in the 1800s.

  • Gurdwara Frescoes: Include Hindu stories such as that of Shravan Kumar, demonstrating shared Indic traditions.

Partition’s Unequal Impact

• The partition’s impact varied significantly by region.

• Punjab: Divided, but both sides retained land, allowing for cultural re-anchoring (e.g., Amritsar for Sikhs).

• Sindh, Kashmir, Balochistan: Uprooted entirely, losing all land-based assets.

  • Sindhis: Their focus on commerce stems directly from having to rebuild their lives from scratch.

  • Kashmir: The conflict is framed as a “Line of Control” dispute, which prevents either India or Pakistan from acknowledging the human cost of partition in the region.

Current Project: Globalising the Guru Granth Sahib

• Goal: Make the wisdom of the Guru Granth Sahib accessible to a global audience.

• Method: Translating the scripture into “metaphoric English” to convey its philosophical depth, unlike current literal translations (e.g., “washing your lotus feet”).

• Progress: 1/3 of the project (1,653 verses, including all of Nanak’s and Kabir’s) is complete.

• Challenge: Expanding to complete the remaining 2/3 requires significant resources, which Singh is actively seeking.

Next Steps

• Amardeep Singh: Secure resources to complete the remaining 2/3 of the Guru Granth Sahib translation project.

• Audience: Research the “butterfly effect” to understand how small events can have large, unpredictable consequences.

Three authors, three worlds!

This Sunday, The English Book Depot, Dehradun hosted a delightful literary gathering that brought readers and authors together in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

The event featured Janhavi Prasada, known for Nainital: Through Memory, Stories and History; Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, author of Chutney: A Compendium of Stories and Recipes; and our Sir Sandeep Dutt, author of My Good School.

Rather than a formal discussion, the event had a more personal and welcoming tone. Readers got the opportunity to interact with the authors, see their books up close, and appreciate the diverse themes their works explore.

My Good School highlights the importance of values and holistic learning in education. Chutney beautifully combines food heritage with culture and memory. Meanwhile, Janhavi Prasada’s book on Nainital captures the charm, history, and emotional landscape of the beloved hill town — making her meet-and-greet especially meaningful for those connected to the region.

The gathering was simple yet special — a space where literature brought people together, sparked curiosity about different kinds of storytelling, and reminded everyone of the joy of meeting the minds behind the books.

Sometimes, just being in the presence of authors and their work is enough to inspire readers — and this Sunday did exactly that. 

- Sneha at The English Book Depot