Mrinal Chatterjee
Asika, a small town in Ganjam district of Odisha has the distinction of having one of the oldest Sugar Factories in India and first of its kind in Asia producing white sugar and first of its kind in Asia producing white sugar. Even today, in many small villages and towns of South India, people use the word Aska for sugar.
Although sugarcane has been cultivated in India from time immemorial, the first sugar factory was established by the French at Aska in 1824. However they could not get the desired quality and confined themselves to the production of jaggery. The jaggery mill was taken over by M/s Binny and Company, Madras in 1848 and named the “Asika Sugar Works and Distillery Ltd.”
It was Minchin Saheb who transformed Asika Sugar Mill into a profit making enterprise. Son of Colonel F. Minchin, Frederick James Vivian Minchin had joined Binny and Co as a bookkeeper in 1848. He soon rose in the ranks and was appointed on the Board of Directors of the company. He was put in charge of the Asika Factory in 1852. The factory ran into huge losses and was on the verge of being closed down. Minchin boughty it from Binny and Co, and took charge of the works in 1856.
He devoted his life to developing the factory. Minchin went to Europe and studied the developments in sugar manufacture there. He imported German equipment and redesigned the factory. He devoted his entire energy, attention and wealth to the sugar factory and enriched and perfected it day by day.
He married a local girl named Soona and settled down at Gopalpur, a tiny seaside town. He died at Gopalpur in 1908. His body was laid to rest in the small church inside the factory compound in Asika.
I’ll tell his fascinating love story some other time.
Readers Digest
The news came not as a shock, but brought about a pain: ‘The UK edition of Readers Digest shuts down after 86 years’.
Readers Digest is one of the most popular general interest magazines, published in several countries including India.
It was founded by DeWitt Wallace with his wife Lila Bell Wallace in February 1922 in New York. They were married just two years earlier, in 1920. The first international edition was published in the UK in 1938. Its popularity grew. At one point of time Reader's Digest had 50 editions in 21 languages and its worldwide circulation including all editions was more than 17 million copies.
Probably it grew too big, or probably it could not evolve with the changing taste of the readers, probably the management faltered- it began to lose circulation and money. Gradually its international editions began to shut shop. Its Canada edition folded in March this year followed by the UK edition.
Its India edition, however, is continuing. May it continue.
Donkey
May 8 is World Donkey Day.
Donkeys have been the most underrated domesticated animal. It never got its due from the ungrateful human beings though they have been humanity’s companions ever since they were domesticated thousands of years ago.
Most human societies have a negative image of the donkey; though they have been serving humanity tirelessly in more ways than most of us know.
Though they look like small size and starved horses, donkeys are not like horses. They differ physically, mentally and emotionally. Donkeys are more stoical in their behaviour and tend to startle less than horses. Compared to horses, donkeys show limited fear response to novel situations and this can be mistaken for stubbornness rather than fear. Donkey milk has been used since antiquity for cosmetic purposes (legend has it that Cleopatra used to batch in donkey’s milk) as well as infant nutrition. For the uninitiated compared to the cow milk which is approximately Rs 50- 65 per litre, donkey milk ranges from Rs 5000 to Rs 7000 per litre.
Rain
After a long dry spell, it rained last evening.
Thunder never sounded so sweet, the first drops of rain felt like life coming back to the parched earth. I could not resist going out in the open and stretching my arms Shahrukh Khan style to welcome the manna from heaven. My wife cautioned, “Don’t get drenched. You’ll catch a cold. At 63, you should stop being so romantic.”
I, like most married men, did not say anything. Rain after a long dry spell makes even peacocks dance. Alas! The joy was short-lived. The rain stopped after a while. And no, I did not catch a cold.
Vote Songs
For the last about a month I have been listening to ‘vote song’s – campaign songs of different political party and candidates. From parodies of popular songs and well-known folk songs, to original composition, from soulful bhajan style songs to foot-tapping Jazz to Hip hop, I am listening to all kinds of songs. And let me confide- enjoying them.
Disclaimer:
This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write-up have nothing to do with www.prameyanews.com.
