Few may be aware that on 16 December was the 242nd birth anniversary of Jane Austen. The novelist, who was, like Bahadur Shah Zafar, born in 1775, died on 18 July, 1817 (aged just 42), which makes this the 200th year of her death. Surprisingly enough, besides Britain and the US, Pakistan is the country where she is most popular, though there is a Jane Austen Club in Mumbai too.

Two Bollywood films on her novels, Pride and Prejudice (Bride and Prejudice) and Emma (Aisha) were also an Indian tribute to her.

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Interestingly, the Jane Austen Society of Pakistan has brought out a collection of short stories, Austenistan, inspired by her novels. It is worth mentioning that many years ago, The Statesman Sunday Magazine, edited by Mervin Hardinge, published an article, along with a painting that showed Warren Hastings and Jane Austen walking hand-in-hand in a love dale after the Governor-General of the East India Company’s recall to England.

Hastings had settled down in his favourite Derbyshire following his trial and acquittal by the British Parliament for malpractices. The illustration suggested a romance between the author and the ex-Governor-General despite the big age difference (which made it quite unlikely). Incidentally, Hastings died some eight years after Jane as a dotty old man ~ about the same time as John Keats and Shelley, who were, however, so much younger than the novelist that she could have passed off as their aunt.

Reflecting life

An exhibition of watercolour paintings, in the Capital last week, was an instant hit among  youngsters, many of whom are budding artists. And the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) gallery, which generally does not have many footfalls, witnessed good crowds. The event it hosted was the second biennale of watercolour paintings, held on 9-14 December.

Watercolour is a much underrated medium among artists. But it is one of the toughest also to master. That’s because one has to be really quick and adept while using it as it dries quickly and thus gives little chance to an artist to make corrections, unlike oil painting.

Watercolour paintings from 65 countries were displayed at the exhibition. AIFACS has been promoting art since long, giving cash prizes. In this biennale, the first prize winner in the Indian category of watercolour paintings went to a portrait of a frail-looking bearded bespectacled old man, bearing an expression of awe and shock on his face. Perhaps, this is the expression of a common man, an aam aadmi, given today’s political and economic scenarios.

Hunting spree

Increasing forgetfulness due to old-age can be most irritating for the family members yet provide quite a few moments of mirth, a senior colleague contended. He narrated how his wife was on the phone with her aged mother when her father, perhaps irritated at being left out of the conversation, kept interrupting. Soon, he could be heard shouting at the top of his voice and a huge commotion appeared to ensue. The mother quickly disconnected the phone but got back a little while later to laughingly describe how her husband felt his dentures were missing and sent the entire family on a merry hunt. In the middle of the chaos a grandson, aged around six, noticed that his grandfather had put on his dentures. As the elder gentleman’s temper subsided, the entire family groaned in relief but soon saw the humour in the situation. And just to spite him once more, our colleague’s mother-in-law immediately picked up the phone once more to continue her conversation with their daughter!

Tailpiece

Overheard an elderly lady quip that Delhi’ites wear masks round the year ~ cotton scarves covering the face in summer, hi-end masks to protect against pollution and caps and woollen scarves in winter!