Rare images of Swami Vivekananda in the Parliament of World’s Religions and of Anandibai Joshee holding her first American degree in the 19th century are a part of an exhibition that demonstrates India’s historic ties with the US. By Karan Bhardwaj
Sitting beside Rabindranath Tagore and sharing his thoughts is like spending one’s days beside the sacred river, drinking seep of honeyed wisdom,” American activist and author Helen Keller described her meeting with India’s renowned poet Rabindranath Tagore when he visited New York in 1921. A beautiful image showing Tagore holding fragile hands of blind and deaf Keller, precisely exudes warmth the two greats had shared a century ago. In another legendary photograph, philosopher Swami Vivekananda is seen enjoying an afternoon outing along with his international counterparts in the lawns of Green Acre School, Eliot, Maine in 1984.
This school, a meeting-place for the study of world religions, was just one stop on a tour in which Vivekenanda introduced the West to Hinduism and yoga. There’s also a portrait of American leader Benjamin Carpenter by an unknown Indian artist which dates back to 1780. A lifelong sailor, Carpenter stood with pride in a red long coat resting his hand upon a globe. He used to sketch his views in journals Ruby and Hercules that chronicled his voyages to India between 1789 and 1793. Such rare images, texts, documents, ephemera and portraits are exhibited at India Habitat Centre’s Atrium area to highlight the centuries-ago Indo-US relationship. Titled Kindred Nations, the exhibition chronicled exchanges between India and the USA during 1783-1947 at various levels.
“The values of both the nations go back to hundred of years. Kindred refers to natural relationship between two people and their familiar ties. While the interest started with American merchants coming to India for trade, it soon grew among philosophers and thinkers. Swami Vivekananda had a historic visit to US at the end of 19th century to attend the World Parliament of Religions Conclave in Chicago. Anandibai Joshee became the first Indian to earn a medical degree in an American university in 1886. India has affected the history of American civil rights as well. Martin luther King Jr cited Mahatma Gandhi as his inspiration for the non-violent resistance of African Americans that he led. In turn, Gandhi had been influenced by the writings of Henry David Thoreau,” says US Ambassador to India, Richard Rahul Verma.
Art critic Alka Pande is fascinated to find many unknown facets at this exhibition. “I didn’t know that the hero (Sabu Dastagir) who played the iconic role of Mowgli in The Jungle Book (1942) was an Indian. He obtained American citizenship in 1944 and joined the US Army Air Forces and was awarded the distinguished Flying Cross. When we think of America, we always think of IT, medicine, braindrain, Patels and Motels. We never associate our cultures. At subterranean levels, things were always happening between two nations but they were never highlighted,” she says. From magic to cinema and dance, in virtually all areas of entertainment, artistes and audience in the US and India have found inspiration and enjoyment in each other’s productions.
The first elephant exhibited in the US, brought from Kolkata in 1796, was the star attraction of a hugely successful tour. In the early 20th century, America’s leading magician, Howard Thurston, visited India to see its famed practitioners of illusion and from that experience crafted his own version of the Indian ‘rope-trick’. In the 1920s, African American performers brought jazz to Bombay, where it was quickly embraced by Indian audience and musicians. In 1935, young film director Ellis R Dungan set out for India at the suggestion of Manik lal Tandon, a classmate in the University of Southern California’s Department of Cinematography. Dungan stayed on for 15 years, applying his American training to make Tamil and Hindi films.
Though India got its independence in 1947, the cultural and political exchange started ages ago. David Mees, cultural attache, American Embassy, tells us, “It started soon after the founding of American Republic when the first American President George Washington sent a Consul to Kolkata, which was not credentialled by the British governor general. There was some personal animosity there. After that, American merchants started trade with India. They preferred to avoid British middlemen and instead dealt with Indian commercial agents which provided opportunities to learn first-hand about the places and people they encountered.
In Bombay (now Mumbai), for example, Nusserwanjee Maneckjee, a specialist in the American market, handled the business of George Nichols from Salem. The two men became friends, exchanging gifts of Kashmiri shawls and books on navigation. As the US economy expanded, the prominence of the Indian trade receded. Nevertheless, American entrepreneurs continued to look for business opportunities. One of the exhibited images showed Madras Ice House’s South view in 1858. From 1830s to 1860s, ice houses were built in Madras, Calcutta and Bombay to store frozen blocks of water sent in ships.
The exhibition is divided into five broad categories and has been curated by Meridian International Center in a collaborative effort here.
