Jay Vardhan Singh

One of the many tragic consequences of large-scale migration from eastern UP (probably true of other regions in eastern India as well) is the decline of village Ramleelas. During my father’s time, almost every other village used to organise its own Ramleela. But organising a Ramleela is no small feat. It requires people with the time, skills, and commitment to sustain the tradition. As significant number of such people migrated out of the region, there are simply not enough competent people left to keep the tradition alive. The result is that most village Ramleelas have now been discontinued. In their place, we now have Durga pandals, which are not nearly as complex to organise. As a result, there has been a great upsurge in their numbers.

Great discovery! If we find further evidence that corroborates this finding, we might have to rethink the chronology of Gupta expansion into Gujarat. The established view is that the Guptas expanded into Gujarat during the reign of Chandragupta II, with the expansion beginning in the latter half of his reign and being completed only under Kumaragupta I. But this copperplate grant suggests that the Gupta expansion into Gujarat may have begun towards the end of Samudragupta’s reign or at the very beginning of Chandragupta II’s reign. Fascinating stuff!

The Jatakas suggest that beating was an accepted form of student discipline in ancient Taxila. In one account we learn of a young student named Brahmadatta, the prince of Varanasi, who was beaten by his teacher for taking a handful of sesame seeds.