Animated piece of history

Lord Curzon was prominently featured in the magazine in 1904. International issues like Russo-Japanese tensions were also covered. Pics/Archive.org

Historian Dr Mridula Ramanna's research is focused on health and medicine in colonial Bombay. Through the course of her work, she found that Hindi Punch, a bilingual journal published in the city from 1878 to 1930, had lots to say about public health. While surfing the Internet, she stumbled on the fifth Album of Cartoons from the issues of the Anglo-Gujarati monthly for the year 1904. A window into the social, cultural and political fabric of that period, the serio-comic edited by Barjorjee Nowrosjee piqued her interest.

This evening, as part of the 57th series of the Heras Memorial Lectures presented by the Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture, St Xavier's College, Mumbai, Ramanna will deliver a virtual presentation and lecture on the album. The session is chaired by professor Aravind Ganachari, former head of department, history, University of Mumbai. The album is available on the Internet Archive. Since Hindi Punch was modelled after British magazine Punch, the narrator is called Punchoba, who refers to this selection as a "passing darshan of his work."

Ramanna says, "There are many cartoons on Lord Curzon, who, as a Viceroy, did many unpopular things [such as the Tibetan expedition and the Indian Universities Act of 1904]. He was a very handsome man, and the cartoons depict him that way." At the same time, the cartoons support the national movement and its leaders and comment on the Indian National Congress session and the 17th Indian National Social Conference in Madras, as well as offer international news of Russo-Japanese tensions and the South African immigration law.

On: Today, 5 pm to 6.30 pm
Log on to: Zoom (meeting ID: 838 9202 6243; passcode: 040328)