Oct 31, 2014

India in Second World War - Part 1

India, officially the Indian Empire, declared war on Germany in September 1939. The Provinces of India (which included most of modern-day India and the present day Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar), being imperial colonies of the United Kingdom, were by default a part of the Allies of World War II. Several Indian princely states provided large donations to the Allies to combat the threat of Nazism and Fascism (Wikipedia)

India First World War
Two crew members of a Sherman tank of the Scinde Horse, part of the Indian 31st Armoured Division in Iraq, March 1944

India First World War
Indian soldiers holding a Nazi flag which they had captured at Libyan Omar, December 1941

India First World War
An Indian infantry section of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment about to go on patrol on the Arakan front, Burma 1943

India First World War
Indian troops move ammunition in very muddy conditions whilst on the road to Tamu in Burma

India First World War
The British commander and Indian crew of a Sherman tank of the 9th Royal Deccan Horse, 255th Indian Tank Brigade, encounter a newly liberated elephant on the road to Meiktila, Burma 1945

View Part 2 and Part 3

Source: defencedynamics.mod.uk
© Crown Copyright/MOD 2009

Oct 30, 2014

Portrait of Indira Gandhi - 1978

Portrait of Indira Gandhi - 1978

Source: ebay.com

Britain's Prince Charles Chats with India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi During a Banquet - 1980

Indira Gandhi

Source: ebay.com

US President Eisenhower with Indira Gandhi - 1956


Source: ebay.com

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi holds her one year old grandson Rahul on the eve of her 53rd birthday - 1970


Source: columbia.edu

Meeting between Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and US President John F Kennedy - Washington, USA, November 1961

 JFK Greeting Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

 President John F. Kennedy welcoming Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Washington. Looking on is the then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson

 President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy greet Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Mrs. Gandhi on the North Portico of the White House, as the visitors from India arrive at the Executive Mansion to attend a dinner given in their honor.

 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Kennedy 

 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Kennedy receiving military Salute

Prime Minister Nehru talks with President John F. Kennedy at the White House in Washington on November 7, 1961

 Prime Minister Nehru talks with President John F. Kennedy at the White House in Washington on November 7, 1961

 Washington, D.C. Nov. 6, 1961: United States President John F. Kennedy welcomes Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (right) on behalf of the American people. At left is Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson

 Washington, D.C., November 9, 1961: as the final event of his busy schedule in Washington, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gives a dinner in honor of U.S. President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy at the Indian Embassy. Left to right: Mrs. B.K. Nehru, wife of the Indian Ambassador; Indrani Rahman, who danced at the reception following the dinner; President and Mrs. Kennedy; Prime Minister Nehru.

 JFK Welcoming Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with President John F. Kennedy

Source: Flickr Photo Stream of U.S. Embassy New Delhi 

Funeral Ceremony of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on Extreme Left her Son and Successor Rajiv Gandhi - 1984


Source: ebay.com

Swami Vivekananda and his Mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi



Swami Vivekananda in Chicago, 1893
On the photo, Vivekananda has written in Bengali, and in English: “One infinite pure and holy—beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee” - Swami Vivekananda



Bhuvaneshwari Devi (1841-1911). Mother of Swami Vivekanda
"I am indebted to my mother for the efflorescence of my knowledge."—Vivekananda

From: Wikipedia

Various Photographs of Swami Vivekananda


ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 1900



ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 1900



SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900



SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900
According to the Vedanta Society of Southern California, this photo of Swamiji standing with an umbrella was taken on Monterey Road, South Pasadena. The tree and the house in back of Swamiji are no longer standing.




SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900
In this photo Swamiji is shown standing, leaning on an umbrella, at a corner of the Meads' house, the rose vine at his back, "while Mrs. Wyckoff, standing on the porch, peeps from behind a pillar. Only a portion of the house is visible in this particular photograph; but in the book Swami Turiyananda by Swami Ritajananda there is a full view of it."
The house, now known as the Vivekananda House, located at 309 Monterey Road, South Pasadena, was purchased in 1955 by a devotee and was deeded over to the Vedanta Society of Southern California. It was restored to its original state preserving its Victorian flavor and was dedicated in 1956. Since that time it has been further renovated. In 1989 the Vivekananda House was made an official Historic Landmark.
From: www.vivekananda.org

Swami Vivekananda's first photo as a Wandering monk at Jaipur - 1888

Swami Vivekananda with other Religious Leaders at Parliament of the World's Religions - Chicago, USA 1893




From Left: Narasima Charya, Lakshmi Narain, Swami Vivekananda, H. Dharmapala, V. A. Gandhi

Source: First Photo is from facebook and second photo is from herenow4u.net

Various Photographs of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa - c1880's

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (February 18, 1836 - August 16, 1886), born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay, was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda - both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu renaissance during the 19th and 20th centuries.Many of his disciples and devotees believe he was an avatar or incarnation of God. More..

Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar

Photograph of Ramakrishna, taken on 10 December 1881 at the studio of "The Bengal Photographers" in Radhabazar, Calcutta (Kolkata)


Ramakrishna in samadhi at the house of Keshab Chandra Sen. He is seen supported by his nephew Hriday and surrounded by brahmo devotees.


Oct 29, 2014

Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi - 1920

Various Portraits of Indian Poet Rabindranath Tagore


Date Photographed : April 19, 1929




Date Photographed : 1920s


Date Photographed : 1920





This photograph was taken as he arrived the other day in Berlin, Germany, during his European trip.


Date Photographed : 1930s


Date Photographed : 1920




Date Photographed : March 30, 1929

About Rabindranath Tagore :
 Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali: রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর) (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) also known by the sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali mystic, Brahmo poet, visual artist, playwright, novelist, and composer whose works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature.


Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi together

Tagore (at right, on the dais) hosts Mahatma Gandhi and wife Kasturba at Santiniketan in 1940.


Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi

Two Great minds together - Rabindranath Tagore and Albert Einstein - 1930





Tagore and Einstein met through a common friend, Dr. Mendel. Tagore visited Einstein at his residence at Kaputh in the suburbs of Berlin on July 14, 1930, and Einstein returned the call and visited Tagore at the Mendel home. Both conversations were recorded and the above photograph was taken. The July 14 conversation is reproduced here, and was originally published in The Religion of Man (George, Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London), Appendix II, pp. 222-225.

More ...