"The fruits of independence": Satyajit Ray, Indian nationhood and the spectre of empire

Challenging the longstanding consensus that Satyajit Ray's work is largely free of ideological concerns and notable only for its humanistic richness, this article shows with reference to representations of British colonialism and Indian nationhood that Ray's films and stories are marked deeply and consistently by a distinctively Bengali variety of liberalism. Drawn from an ongoing biographical project, it commences with an overview of the nationalist milieu in which Ray grew up and emphasizes the preoccupation with colonialism and nationalism that marked his earliest unfilmed scripts. It then shows with case studies of Kanchanjangha (1962), Charulata (1964), First Class Kamra (First-Class Compartment, 1981), Pratidwandi (The Adversary, 1970), Shatranj ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Agantuk (The Stranger, 1991) and Robertsoner Ruby (Robertson's Ruby, 1992) how Ray's mature work continued to combine a strongly anti-colonial viewpoint with a shifting perspective on Indian nationhood and an unequivocal commitment to cultural cosmopolitanism. Analysing how Ray articulated his ideological positions through the quintessentially liberal device of complexly staged debates that were apparently free, but in fact closed by the scenarist/director on ideologically specific notes, this article concludes that Ray's reputation as an all-forgiving, ‘everybody-has-his-reasons’ humanist is based on simplistic or even tendentious readings of his work

Sedimentation pattern and tectonic evolution of the Proterozoic Singhbhum Basin in the eastern Indian shield

The Proterozoic Singhbhum Basin (PSB) located on the flank of an Archaean platform (ca. 3400 Ma) is a distinct lithotectonic unit of the Singhbhum crustal province of the eastern Indian shield. The present contribution traces the evolution of this basin filled by volcanics-dominated submarine supracrustals and sedimentary formations. The Proterozoic Singhbhum Basin has been identified to be a marginal basin evolved in a back-arc setting. An axial volcanic belt manifesting MOR-like basaltic eruptions divided the basin into two domains with parallel but distinct sedimentation patterns. An asymmetry in sedimentation pattern and source polarity are documented in litho-as-semblages and REE distribution patterns of cover rocks in the basinal domain flanking the southern platform. Prevailing tectonics strongly controlled the mechanism of sedimentation which, coupled with the volcanic history of the basin, indicates its riftogenic character. Progressive lithospheric stretching successively produced picritic volcanics and MOR-type basalts along the axial zone of the basin, being related to a stretching factor of ≥ 2. Continental margin rifting ultimately resulted in an oceanic transition as supported also by available geophysical data. The evolution of the Proterozoic Singhbhum Basin in its broad perspective was controlled by subduction-related processes

Deccan basalts

The Deccan basalts now cover an area of c. 500,000 sq. km in central and western India. The lava pile varies in thickness from c. 2000 metres in western India to c. 100-200 metres in central India, exposing the upper and lower horizons of the volcanics respectively. The salient mineralogical and chemical characters of the basalts are reviewed. Dominantly the basalts are tholeiitic while minor alkalic variants in western India represent the closing phase of volcanic activity. The diversification of the magma to the west is associated with thickening of the lava pile and increase of heat flow. The ultrabasic flows (picrite basalts) are products of fractionation of the source magma of olivine tholeiitic composition. The minor acid variants (e.g. rhyolites, pitchstones, felsites, etc.) are possibly residual liquids of the ascending magma

Petrology of the nepheline syenite of Mount Girnar, India

Hypersolvus nepheline syenite and haplosyenite, in close spatial and temporal association with lamprophyric rock, occur as small intrusions in the gabbrodiorite pluton of Mount Girnar, Gujrat, Western India. The syenite crystallized in a relatively dry condition from a residual liquid following crystallization of lamprophyric rock with profuse hydrous mafic phases. Distribution of some of the more common trace elements with respect to the major elements in the syenites has been interpreted