Volume IV: India

Each part to this album began with a note about the location where the photos in that part were taken.

Part A contains c. 45 photos, all unidentified but some clearly showing scenes from the Ganga Sagor Mela, and some taken on a (western) ship.

Note: A. The Ganga Sagor Mela. On the waste island of Sagor, which lies at the very spot where the Holy river Ganges flows into the sea, thousands of Hindus yearly come to hold here a great religious mela or festival. The Puranas tell of how the Goddess Ganges flowed out of the high Himalayas in the north to wash the great plain of India, and of how one man, through his supplication and renunciation, had persuaded her to lave [sic] the ashes of his sixty brethren [sic] upon this very island, that their souls should be set free from sin. Sadhus of every sect come by hundreds with the pilgrims, and these holy men can be seen performing ascetic feats along the bazaas [sic] and upon the water front. The great moment of the festival, however, is on the day when the sun makes its passage from the constellation of Sagittarius to that or Capricorn. Then all go into the sacred river to bathe and wash themselves of their sins. This is an act of devotion and through it one gains much merit.

Part B contains c. 20 unidentified photos, mostly of people including some participating in a ceremony, and some of local scenes, presumably the Ashram school building.

Note: B. Santiniketan. On the great plains of north Bengal the poet of India, Rabindranath Tagore, has created an Ashram or school, which is at once a revolt against the stultifying atmosphere of the Government schools and colleges, and an attempt to build an education in India for Indians which will be based on the finest things of both the East and the West. It is essentially synthetic. The material side of Santiniketan is not at all developed so that classes are held in the shade of the sal and palm trees or in the thatched houses of the ashram during the rains of the monsoon. The very practical side of the work is carried on by what is known as the Village Reconstruction Department where agriculture is taught and a real contact is made between the theoretical and cultural training and life as it is lived in the countless tiny villages of the surrounding country.

Part C contains c. 30 unidentified photos, of people and a few of animals, and of local scenes.

Note: C. Tea Gardens of the Duars. In north Bengal, under the Bhutan hills, there is a flat country cut across by the many rivers which flow out of the mountains. Here are many tea gardens, and in the jungles which hedge in on all sides are tiger and elephant, leopard and wild boar. This is one of Indias [sic] choice hunting grounds, and besides the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, who comes with a great retinue upon elephants to hold a beat, the planters of the district getin [sic] their own shikkar and have many tiger to their credit. During the monsoon the most terrific thunderstorms sweep the country, and at night as the black clouds climb up into the Bhutan hills and the peals of thunder grow faint there breaks through the growing hush the distracted cry of the Make-more-Pecoe Bird and an answer from his mate in some far off recess of the jungle, faint but reassuring. There is something gloriously beautiful in these symphonies of the large out of doors, their tremendous climaxes, their simple notes of romance which bring peace out of storms.

Part D contains c. 40 unidentified photos, mostly of people, candid and full portraits, and some of scenery, and notes.

Note: D. Darjeeling. It is said that Darjeeling is one of the beauty spots of the world, and no doubt it is. Seven thousand feet up from the plains it looks out upon the towering snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas which pinnacle to Mt.Everest [sic]. It is beautiful, and moreover it is most interesting. For here gather in its great bazaar the hill's folk from from [sic] Bhutan, Napal [sic], Thibet [sic]; and here come men from Bengal and Assam. The summer Capital of Bengal is likewise at Darjeeling, and this brings with the Governor General the English society of Calcutta to deck the cheifest of all hill stations next to Simla. The hill's people are as a rule very fond of color and of decorating their women folk with as much jewelry as possible. The wealth of a family is carried about a woman's neck or hanging from her ears there being only one danger of a bank failure, the ever and great possibility of her eloping with another man.

Note:

Calcutta 1922 There were among the friends [Mil?] and I made while in Calcutta, [Barhim] Mukerji et al Barhim we saw again in 1952 - Beulah + I when we visited Calcutta from [Barpali].