Rahul Sankrityayan's Death Anniversary

Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey), who passed away on 14 April 1963, in Darjeeling, was an Indian author, essayist, playwright, historian, scholar of Buddhism who wrote in Hindi and Bhojpuri. Known as "father of Hindi travel literature", Sankrityayan played a pivotal role in giving Hindi travelogue a literary form. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home in locations like Russia, Tibet, China, Central Asia, etc.

Knowing around 30 languages including English, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali, Russian, Arabic, etc., Sankrityayan almost always wrote in Hindi. The honorific mahapandit ("Great scholar" in Hindi) has been applied before his name since his lifetime.

Sankrityayan wrote extensively, his collection of works spanning more than 100 books on various subjects like Indology, Communism, Buddhism, and philology as well as various short stories, novels and plays. He was awarded the 1958 Sahitya Akademi Award for his 2 volume "Madhya Asia ka Itihaas" (History of Central Asia). The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian award, in 1963. He died the same year, aged 70.

Shamshad Begum's Birth Anniversary

Shamshad Begum, born on 14 April 1919 in Lahore, British India (present-day Pakistan. was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and range, she sang over 6,000 songs in Hindustani, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Punjabi languages, among which 1287 were Hindi film songs. She worked with renowned composers of the time, such as Naushad Ali and O.P. Nayyar, for whom she was one of their favourites. Her songs from the 1940s to the early 1970s remain popular and continue to be remixed.

Ali Akbar Khan's Birth Aniversary

 

Ali Akbar Khan, born on 14 April 1922, in Shibpur, Bengal, India [now in Bangladesh], was a composer, virtuoso sarod player, and teacher, active in presenting classical Indian music to Western audiences. Khan’s music is rooted in the Hindustani (northern) tradition of Indian music.

Khan was trained by his father, the master Alauddin Khan, and began performing at age 13, soon becoming the court musician to the maharaja of Jodhpur. He remained in that position for seven years, until the death of the maharaja, at which time the state conferred on him the title of master musician (ustad). In 1955 the violinist Yehudi Menuhin invited him to New York City, and thereafter he often performed and recorded in the West, frequently in collaboration with his brother-in-law, the composer and sitarist Ravi Shankar. As a composer, Khan is known for his film scores—notably for Satyajit Ray’s Devi (1960) and the Ismail Merchant–James Ivory production The Householder (1963)—and as the creator of many ragas. Khan was the first Indian musician to record the long, elaborate manifestations of Indian music performances; among his many albums are The Forty-Minute Raga (1968) and Journey (1990). He founded music schools in Kolkata (Calcutta; 1956); San Rafael, Calif. (1967); and Basel, Switz. (1985). In 1991 he received a MacArthur Foundation fellowship.

 

 

Dr B.R. Ambedkar's Birth Anniversary

 

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, born on 14 April 1891, in Mhow, India, was a leader of the Dalits (Scheduled Castes; formerly called untouchables) and law minister of the government of India (1947–51).

Born of a Dalit Mahar family of western India, he was as a boy humiliated by his high-caste schoolfellows. His father was an officer in the Indian army. Awarded a scholarship by the Gaekwar (ruler) of Baroda (now Vadodara), he studied at universities in the United States, Britain, and Germany. He entered the Baroda Public Service at the Gaekwar’s request, but again ill-treated by his high-caste colleagues, he turned to legal practice and to teaching. He soon established his leadership among Dalits, founded several journals on their behalf, and succeeded in obtaining special representation for them in the legislative councils of the government. Contesting Mahatma Gandhi’s claim to speak for Dalits (or Harijans, as Gandhi called them), he wrote What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables (1945).

In 1947 Ambedkar became the law minister of the government of India. He took a leading part in the framing of the Indian constitution, outlawing discrimination against untouchables, and skilfully helped to steer it through the assembly; the adoption of the constitution on January 26, 1950, is today celebrated as Republic Day, a national holiday. He resigned in 1951, disappointed at his lack of influence in the government. In October 1956, in despair because of the perpetuation of untouchability in Hindu doctrine, he renounced Hinduism and became a Buddhist, together with about 200,000 fellow Dalits, at a ceremony in Nagpur. Ambedkar’s book The Buddha and His Dhamma appeared posthumously in 1957, and it was republished as The Buddha and His Dhamma: A Critical Edition in 2011, edited, introduced, and annotated by Aakash Singh Rathore and Ajay Verma.

Thomas Jefferson's Birth Anniversary

Thomas Jefferson, born on 13 April 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia [U.S.], was a draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the nation’s first secretary of state (1789–94) and second vice president (1797–1801) and, as the third president (1801–09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. An early advocate of total separation of church and state, he also was the founder and architect of the University of Virginia and most eloquent American proponent of individual freedom as the core meaning of the American Revolution.

Long regarded as America’s most distinguished “apostle of liberty,” Jefferson has come under increasingly critical scrutiny within the scholarly world. At the popular level, both in the United States and abroad, he remains an incandescent icon, an inspirational symbol for both major U.S. political parties, as well as for dissenters in communist China, liberal reformers in central and eastern Europe, and aspiring democrats in Africa and Latin America. His image has suffered, however, as the focus on racial equality has prompted a more negative reappraisal of his dependence upon slavery and his conviction that American society remain a white man’s domain. Especially disturbing to many were the DNA results of the 1998 study revealing that Jefferson had almost certainly fathered a child with his slave Sally Hemings, thirty years his junior. The huge gap between his lyrical expression of liberal ideals and the more attenuated reality of his own life has transformed Jefferson into America’s most problematic and paradoxical hero. The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated to him on 13 April 1943, the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Balraj Sahni's Death Anniversary

 

Balraj Sahni (born Yudhishthir Sahni), who passed away on 13 April 1973, aged 59, in Mumbai, was an acclaimed Indian film and stage actor. Known for his powerful and impactful performances, Balraj Sahni became a prominent figure in the golden era of Indian cinema.

Balraj Sahni initially pursued a career in the civil service but eventually found his true calling in acting. He became associated with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), a leftist cultural organization, where he honed his skills and passion for acting. His association with IPTA marked the beginning of his journey in theatre.

Balraj Sahni made his film debut in 1946 with the film "Insaaf," but he gained widespread recognition and acclaim for his role in the film "Do Bigha Zamin" (1953), directed by Bimal Roy. His portrayal of Shambhu Mahato, a poor farmer struggling to save his land, showcased his acting prowess and earned him accolades. The film won the International Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1954.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Balraj Sahni delivered memorable performances in films such as "Kabuliwala" (1961), "Waqt" (1965), and "Neel Kamal" (1968). He often played roles that reflected the socio-economic realities of the time, and his ability to bring depth and authenticity to his characters set him apart as one of the finest actors in Indian cinema.

Balraj Sahni's filmography includes a diverse range of roles, from intense and dramatic characters to light-hearted and comedic ones. He collaborated with renowned filmmakers like Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, and Yash Chopra, leaving an indelible mark on Indian cinema.

Apart from his acting career, Balraj Sahni was also a noted writer and penned several books, including his autobiography "Meri Filmi Aatmakatha" (My Filmy Autobiography).

Balraj Sahni's contribution to Indian cinema was not only recognized within the industry but also by the government. He received the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian awards in India, in 1969.

 

 

 

 

The Creation of Khalsa

Khalsa, the purified and reconstituted Sikh community instituted by Guru Gobind Singh on March 30, 1699 (Baisakhi Day; Khalsa Sikhs celebrate the birth of the order on April 13 of each year). His declaration had three dimensions: it redefined the concept of authority within the Sikh community; it introduced a new initiation ceremony and code of conduct; and it provided the community with a new religious and political vision. Khalsa is used to denote both the body of initiated Sikhs and the community of all Sikhs.

The early Sikh community had been shaped by three levels of authority: the masands (“Guru’s deputies”) were responsible for local congregations; the Guru was the active central authority; and the revealed word as recorded in Sikh scriptural text served as the symbolic base. With the establishment of the Khalsa, the authority of the masands was eliminated. They were expected either to become members of the community on a par with all others or to leave the fold.

Gobind Singh also introduced a new initiation rite. More commonly called amrit pahul (“the nectar ceremony”) but also known as khande ki pahul (literally, “ceremony of the double-edged sword”), it was centred on a belief in the transformative power of the revealed word. The word was recited while water for initiation was stirred with a double-edged sword. Every Sikh who underwent the ceremony became a member of the Khalsa, was assigned the name Singh (“Lion”), and was expected to observe a rigorous code of conduct (rahit) symbolized by the wearing of five items: kes (long hair), kangha (a comb), kachha (a pair of shorts), karha (a steel bracelet), and kirpan (a sword). The names of these items begin with the Punjabi letter k and thus came to be known as the five Ks. The Singhs were also expected to forswear tobacco, alcohol, and certain types of meat.

In its third aspect the Khalsa embodied a concrete political agenda: the pledge to realize the rule of the Sikh community (Khalsa Raj, “kingdom of God”) in the Punjab. These three interlocking dimensions have made the institution of the Khalsa perhaps the most powerful force in shaping Sikh identity during the past three centuries. Initially a male institution, it is now open to women (who take the name Kaur [“Princess]) as well, though Khalsa authority remains firmly in male hands.