View of the Kaiser Bagh, Lucknow, looking North,showing Sundit Ali Shah's Mausoleum

View from the summit of Gwalior Fort showing the palace of the Maharajah of Scindiah

Source:www.harappa.com
Photography came to India a few years after its invention in Europe in 1839. Thousands of photographers were active for the next hundred years.

Those whose works survive were usually Europeans; in the subcontinent, white ants found the albumen or egg white in old photographs irresistible.
Many of the photographs that have survived are anonymous, unidentified works. The subject as whole is under-researched. There are only a handful of informative books.

Nevertheless, there seems to be a growing interest in Raj photography. More new books using old photographs are appearing in India and Pakistan. There are more exhibitions underway or planned on the subject than ever before.
This section of the site displays a growing selection of photographs by famous and unknown photographers from the early 1860's through 1947.

Behind the glory - five times the salary his dad would have retired on perhaps - the relentless grind is getting worse for today's software professional. Long hours, maddening demands and draining deadlines are taking their toll, despite good HR practices by IT companies. Is India's most high-profile sector in not so good health?

FOR 31-year-old Harish, life begins and ends on Sundays. Rest of the week, he develops software applications for his company's US-based clients he has never seen.


An extended sleep, some TV, and lazing around in Mumbai's suburbs make the concept of weekend fun for this bachelor. For the next six days, he will get into his Nariman Point office by 9.30 a.m. — after an hour's train journey — and reach back his listless home when many would be watching Sex and the City.


He is not complaining though; he gets five times the salary his father had drawn when he retired. "But sometimes I feel I will soon break down and I can't take it anymore," Harish (name changed) confesses.


Many others in his profession are breaking down, by the way. The software and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors are witnessing an increasing incidence of nervous breakdowns, back pain, hypertension and cervical spondylosis these days. So much so that Ayurveda companies and spiritual healers are now devising special packages for the IT industry.


Is India's most high-profile sector not in good `health'? Are our software professionals an exploited lot?


"Nobody works in a software firm for the customary eight hours. You put in an average of 10-12 hours a day," says one software engineer who doesn't want to be named. He too doesn't grudge his grinding work schedule.


"The culture of standing up and shouting simply doesn't exist in a software company," he says.


So take the workload in your stride, and find solace in the fat salary is the funda for people like him. Doesn't matter if you don't get time to spend it.


When it comes to BPO employees, well, life is a long spell of insomnia.


This is by no means to suggest that Indian software and BPO companies are money-minded sweatshops. The Indian IT industry has adopted perhaps the best HR practices and it does take care of its employees really well, besides paying fabulous salaries and other perks, which employees of other sectors envy. But it seems the inherent nature of the work, wherein project deadlines are sacrosanct, puts too much load on employees, even if they don't mind it. But problems crop up when your youthful exuberance wanes with each passing year. After all, life is not just about making money.


Companies are aware of this, but the cutthroat competition in the sector gives them no room to relax. On the one hand, companies compete with one another from their peer group to win an order. And on the other, they have to fight bigger firms that have more resources in hand.


When everything boils down to price, the lower you quote, the better your chances of winning a project. This means employees will have lesser time on hand to deliver.

In this article we shall be looking at how our attitude, and the attitude of those we seek to serve or to which we provide a service, can help or hinder our achievements.

I'm sure, like me, you have heard that "attitude is the essence of success". But whose attitude? Essentially in the financial services business, there are a number of parties involved. These can be summed up by identifying oneself as a ‘server’ or as one being served. For example, at the point of sale there is the client (being served) and the adviser (the server). In a training or supervisory situation the same roles apply. The trainer or supervisor is the server, and the delegate or trainee is the served.

Either party needs to control their own attitude. A negative attitude by either party can be very destructive. My own observations have led me to conclude that the person who is gripped by a negative attitude seeks to justify it, and such justification is seated in self-pity. Even when our own attitude is positive there is always someone who will try to drag us down to his or her level. An example of this would be where someone had a previously bad experience, or considered such requirements as a waste of time.

So, it is important to guard against being drawn into a destructive thought mode. Robert Schuller makes some valid points in his book, "Tough times never last but tough people do." In it he shows how to manage a problem positively. Why is it necessary to learn how to handle problems? - because everyone has them! The 'arriver' often has more problems than the 'striver'!! Great dreams of great dreamers are never fulfilled, they are transcended. Every problem has a limited time span. Every problem holds hidden opportunities. Every problem will change you. You won't be the same once the problem has been solved. You can choose what your problem will do to you. Although we can't control problems, we can control our reaction to them. If you can't resolve a problem, you can manage it. In the current climate of T&C requirements, can we afford to overlook the way that our attitude affects the process of preparing others to give financial advice?

There are a number of areas where improvements in attitude we make will have a beneficial effect on those we serve. Firstly, there is our appearance. A person who takes care and pride in their appearance is more likely to take care and pride in their work. It gives the right initial impression of one and helps others to feel confident in our presence.

Secondly, control. Creating an environment where others allow us to quickly and effectively move through the training or supervisory process. Being well organised and confident creates within the mind of others feelings of confidence and trust.

Thirdly, our conduct, where verbal consideration and courteous behaviour will be attractive to others.

Fourthly, motivation is important. A motivated person or group will become curious, involved, and hopefully imaginative enough to consider ideas and action. I can remember a time when someone challenged the need to ‘provide all these figures’ for a course he was on. I asked him to allow me to develop that part of the course and promised him that he would see that there was great value to him as he compared his activity figures with those of his colleagues. He accepted my ‘promise’ and when we came to that part of the programme, he became most interested, and in his own words learnt much that would enable him to improve his own performance.

Charlie Bell began his career flipping burgers at the Kingsford outlet of McDonald's in Sydney at a young age of just 15. He became Australia's youngest store manager by 19 and made it to the company's board of directors after 10 years. At 32, he was made the managing director of McDonald's Australia. In 2004 he was the first non American to be made the CEO of this America-based food chain. He left the company in May after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer which eventually ended his life in January 2005.
Bell is one amongst the numerous examples of people who have stuck to the same organisation and made it real big. This class stands apart from the rest of the crowd who are on a constant move and for whom change is synonymous with moving high. But is it so? Not in majority of the cases. If you study the successful career stories you will discover that the people who have made it to the top management levels in most of the organisations mostly are employees with a stable career history behind them.
At home in India, MS Banga did his BTech in mechanical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1975. From Delhi, he moved to Ahmedabad to study at the Indian Institute of Management . Soon after completing his MBA he joined HLL as a management trainee. He proved his worth and the company rewarded him amply by giving him three out of turn promotions through the late eighties.
He made it to the HLL board of directors at the age of 41.In November 1998, he moved to London for 16 months to work for Unilever UK. Here he learnt about the latest management trends and to familiarised himself with the various parts of the global Lever empire. It was like his grooming ground to make him competent enough to take over as the next chairman of Hindustan Lever. In 2000 he returned to India and took over as the CEO of HLL. A career in the same organisation, starting as a Management trainee and reaching the greatest height by becoming the CEO is an example how stability pays.
Job shifts, done mostly for short-term gains like earning more money and higher designations, can land you in a soup in a couple of years. Constant shifts can allow you to shoot high on these scales but then there is a limit till where you can go - what after that? On the other side, stability in career is still not extinct. There are people who still believe in dedicating their entire work life in same organisation and climbing the corporate ladder at a slow but steady pace.
What goes into the making of a stable employee? There are a number of factors responsible for it:
The right break: Getting that right break is the most essential factor. What exactly do we mean by this? It is that job which does justice to your education and your expectations. Individual tastes count here. For two different people with same educational qualification, the right break may vary. One person may like to work in a smaller organisation where he gets more of initial acclaim while another competent person may like to work in a bigger organisation and work out his way to gain popularity. If a person is able to bag a job in the place of his choice, he stays there. Else his search continues.

FACTS THAT MAKES EVERY INDIAN FEEL PROUD

>> > Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems? Vinod Khosla >> > Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the today's computers run on it)? Vinod Dahm >> > Who is the third richest man on the world? A. According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is AZIM PREMJI, who is the CEO of Wipro Industries. The Sultan of Brunei is at 6th position now. >> > Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web based email program)? Sabeer Bhatia Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)? Arun Netravalli >> > Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard? Rajiv Gupta >> > Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000, responsible to iron out all initial problems? Sanjay Tejwrika >> > Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart? Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar. >> > We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, even faring better than the whites and the natives. >>> There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (1.5% of population). YET, >> > 38% of doctors in USA are Indians. >> > 12% scientists in USA are Indians. >> > 36% of NASA scientists are Indians. >> > 34% of Microsoft employees are Indians. >> > 28% of IBM employees are Indians. >> > 17% of INTEL scientists are Indians. >> > 13% of XEROX employees are Indians. >> > You may know some of the following facts. These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD HISTORY FACTS ABOUT INDIA. >> > 01. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history. >> > 02. India invented the Number system. Aryabhatta invented 'zero.' >> > 03. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education. >> > 04. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software. >> > 05. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. >> > 06. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth. >> > 07. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago.The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. >> > 08. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6th Century, which is long before the European mathematicians. >> > 09. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 1053. >> > 10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896, india was the only source of diamonds to the world. >> > 11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi. >> > 12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra. >> > 13. Chess was invented in India. >> > 14.Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India. >> > 15.When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in SindhuValley (Indus Valley Civilisation). >> > 16.The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC. >> > Quotes about India. >> > We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made ---àAlbert Einstein. >> > India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition ---à Mark Twain. >> > If there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India ---à French scholar Romain Rolland. >> > India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border---à Hu Shih. (Former Chinese ambassador to USA ________________________________________________________

<>

Domes of Nagina Masjid mosque, probably used privately by Shah Jahan

Unidentified cloister somewhere in the vicinity of the dot on the map

Mughal palace architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Red Fort at Agra. Built over many centuries under different regimes, it is the product of many different architects who each worked on only a small portion of the whole. To our eyes, this gives the Red Fort a rather eclectic feel that is unified only by the ubiquitious red sandstone that gives the fortress its name.
The Red Fort began its life in the 10th century as a simple mud and brick fortress along the banks of the Yamuna river. Under Akbar (1564-1570s) of the Mughal dynasty it was rebuilt along the lines of its predecessor, which accounts for its irregular outer walls. Originally intended as a fortress, the site was partially converted into a palace during the reign of Shah Jahan, who lived in the fortress and died there - a prisoner of his own son.
The residential and defensive portions of the fortress can be described separately. The outer walls, built during Akbar's time, are penetrated by two gates, called the Amar Singh and the Delhi gate respectively. The Delhi gate, to the west, was originally the main entrance although the southern gate, the Amar Singh, is used today. Both gates are sheathed in red sandstone and consist of an enormous facade flanked by twin towers. Entry is on the diagonal, and to foil invaders, visitors were originally forced to negotiate several right-angled turns before reaching the gate.
The interior of the fortress is largely empty but for a row of residential dwellings facing the river. Built during Shah Jahan's time and after, these luxurious structures drew the resources of an entire empire and were worked on by craftsman of many different nationalities. The earliest of these dwellings, the Jahangiri Mahal, was built by Akbar as a women's quarters. It is predominantly Hindu in character and was probably inspired by the Gwalior Man Mandir, a palace built earlier in the century.
The Jehangir palace was also built by Akbar, for his favorite son.

View to the north from the tower

Muthammam-Burj tower, where Shah Jahan spent the last 3 years of his life - prisoner of his own son.

Khas-mahal palace and the Anguri Bagh gardens, layed out during the reign of Shah Jahan

The eastern ramparts of the fort.

Distant view of the Taj Mahal from the east courtyard of the Jahangiri palace.

Fountain in the east courtyard overlooking the river

Courtyard of Jahangiri Mahal

Jahangiri Mahal palace.

Jahangiri Mahal palace, built by Akbar for his favorite son.

The Amar Singh gate

The Badshawi Darwaza gate.

Fatehpur Sikri, the "City of Victory", sits 35 kilometers from Agra on a low hill of the Vindhya mountain range. Before the reign of Akbar (1556-1605), the Mughal King who built Fatehpur Sikri, the site of the future city had already earned an auspicious reputation. Babar, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty and Akbar's grandfather, had won a battle here over Rana Sanga of Mewar. In gratitude he named the area Shukri, which means "thanks". In Akbar's time the site was occupied by a small village of stonecutters and was the home of Shaikh Salim Chishti, a Muslim astrologer and Sufi Saint. In 1568 Akbar visited the Shaikh to ask for the birth of an heir. The Shaikh replied that an heir would be born soon. Sure enough, Akbar's wife gave birth to a boy on August 30, 1569. In gratitude, Akbar named the boy Salim after the astrologer, and, two years later decided to move the capital to Sikri.
Of course, the decision to build a new capital at Sikri was determined by more than sentiment. It was a strategic location in Rajasthan that put Akbar and his armies closer to the Gujarat region--the next object of Akbar's expansionist dreams. Gujarat was desirable because its coastal cities were ideally suited to take advantage of the lucrative trade to Arab lands.
Construction of the new capital began in earnest in 1571 and continued for about fifteen years. During much of this time Akbar made the area his home, but strangely, in 1586, Akbar abandoned his new capital forever. The reasons are not entirely clear, but the most plausible explanation is that Akbar needed to move his base of operations to wage the war against Kabul, which he occupied in 1585, and Kandahar, which fell in 1595.
After Akbar's departure the city was used only sparingly in the coming centuries. In the early 17th century it became the home of several queen mothers. In 1619 Emperor Jahangir camped here for three months while a plague raged in nearby Agra. Ninety years later, the city was refurbished to host the coronation of Muhammad Shah (1709-48). After that, the city was largely abandoned until Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India for the British from 1898 to 1905, sponspored an archaeological survey and restoration efforts.
In present times the city has become one of the chief tourist attractions of India. However, it is impossible to capture in pictures a single iconic image of the city, in the way that the Taj Mahal can be framed in its totality in the viewfinder of any camera. Fatehpur Sikri is so large and decentralized that the city can only be experienced as a series of changing surroundings as one travels from courtyard to courtyard. There are no broad boulevards or landmark buildings that can be constantly kept in view when experiencing the city. At Fatehpur Sikri, there are very few buildings that can be seen from all four sides in isolation--among them the Diwan-i-Khas and the Sonakra Makan. Most buildings are fused together in such a way that there are a multitude of routes to reach any point. It is almost if the figure-ground of a modern city is reversed: open spaces are non-continuous islands in a network of buildings that flow together like streets.

The Badshawi Darwaza gate, which faces east.

The tomb of Islam Khan, adjacent to Salim Chishti's tomb.

At left is part of the facade of the tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti, for whom the mosque was built..

Inner face of the north gate.

One of several mihrab (niches) that face toward Mecca.