Mrinal Chatterjee
I fell in love with Bhopal, a city I was visiting for the first time, even before I reached there. It was love before the first sight. I was going to Bhopal by train. As the train was approaching Bhopal, the vibrant greenery and vast water bodies made me fall in love with Bhopal, which is known as Lake City. In fact there is a university here named so.
Capital of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal is a historical city, ruled by Hindu Kings and Muslim Nawabs- thus having a multi-layered culture and architecture. It has been home to some of the finest Urdu and Hindi litterateurs and the largest selling Hindi newspaper- Dainik Bhaskar. It has one of the largest Anthropological museums of the country and a tribal museum, which can be compared with Ta Pei Museum of Wellington, New Zealand- that I visited last month. However, the jewel in the crown of Bhopal, like the Kila Padia of Cuttack, maidan area of Kolkata or India Gate area of Mumbai- is undoubtedly the Lake.
Upper Lake
Spread over 36 square km, the Upper Lake or Bada Talao, as the locals call it, is the heart and lungs of Bhopal city. It soaks up carbon-di-oxide, provides drinking water to over eight hundred thousand people of Bhopal and regulates the micro climate; it keeps the city cooler than otherwise it would have been.
Interestingly it is not a natural lake. It was physically dug. Raja Bhoj created this lake in 11 th century. For one thousand years it has sustained Bhopal. But increasing siltation and growing pollution has raised concern about its survival.
As the increasing siltation is filling it up, its water carrying capacity is decreasing. According to a recent study, the water carrying capacity of the lake has decreased almost 25 per cent in the last quarter of a century. The quality of water is going down. Till 1947, its water was considered Category A fit to drink without filtration. Now it is in category C- fit to drink after filtration. But the experts apprehend if the rate of pollution continues, it would soon be unfit for drinking even after filtration.
As I sat on the first floor balcony of ‘Waves and Wings’ a MP tourism restaurant on the bank of the lake looking at the vast expanse of water and scores of small boats ferrying tourists to a small island within the lake- it seemed improbable. But looks are deceptive. The lake needs urgent attention and a long term plan for its revival and survival.
MCU
I came to Bhopal for two reasons, one- to find materials for my research on cartoon and cartoonists of India and two, to visit Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University for Communication and Journalism (MCU), where I was to deliver lectures on different aspects of media. Spread over 50 acres, it has a beautifully designed and well maintained campus. At the first glance it’ll remind you of Mughal Garden architecture. Wide tree lined roads, buildings with geometric patterns, high roof to reduce temperature within, jali for free air flow. All the buildings in the campus wear a symmetric and open look. They look grand without being intimidating.
I particularly liked the library.
Named ‘Nalanda’ after the ancient University- it has one of the largest collection of books on media and communication that I have seen in India. Immaculately maintained with computerized access system, it has a separate section for books on Indian Knowledge System. The University is creating an archive of newspapers and periodicals and planning to have a media museum.
Dr. Padeep Mahapatra
Dr. Pradeep Mahapatra, my friend, philosopher and guide for my PhD and D.Litt dissertation died on late July in a hospital in Bhubaneswar. He was seventy. A short man with a sharp mind, he kept abreast of the recent trends of media and used to write a regular weekly column in Odia on it. He also used to write a weekly column on old age related issues and one on Berhampur, a city he loved so dearly that he rarely went out of it.
He taught Journalism in Berhampur University for over a quarter of a century, wrote a book on Utkal Deepika, the first Odia newspaper, besides writing extensively for newspapers and periodicals. After retirement, he mostly kept to himself and his studies. A dotting and understanding wife and no children- probably helped. He preferred to sit for hours in his neatly arranged studies, with stacks of books, magazines and newspapers around him. Writing three well-researched weekly columns was no small feat. He did it week after week, month after month. He was a meticulous person- in daily life as well as academic research.
His death is a big blow to the media ecosphere of Odisha- for there is hardly anybody writing about world media in Odia the way he used to do. His death is personal loss to me. Just one satisfaction- I had some role in his last book, which focuses on his views and opinions about the current global media trends. It was his book, with me playing the role of a sutradhar.
Disclaimer:
This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write-up have nothing to do with www.prameyanews.com.
