Hello friends. I don't know how many of you are watching, but a very good test series between India and Australia is going on. I believe India has a great opportunity to win a test series in Australia for the first time. This cricketing nation Australia has a great relationship with kolkata and with it's Auckland Circus Gardens. Some memories are sweet and some are not. But, wait you probably thinking: Where is this place called Auckland Circus Gardens in Kolkata? Well then brace yourself for a story which I always cherish whenever I go to this place. For that you need to know something about a painting by a very famous British painter Elizabeth Thompson.
In the right side of the painting you can see a soilder. Exhausted from war, even his horse is not looks very well. There is not much energy left in him. In the left side you can see a fort and some charioteers are rushing towords that soilder. This painting is called "Remnants of an Army". The fort is Jalalabad Fort and the soilder was William Briden. In 1839, 16000 soilders of British Army attacked Afganistan. After 3 years in 1842, only one came back. But what is the connection between this painting and Kolkata? Well you need to know about that person for whom Briden faced this situation. He was the Governor General of India at that time, Lord Auckland. British Government made a huge mistake by appointing him as the Governor General of India. It is because he had no interest in this country and in it's culture. When a terrible famine broke out in the country he was enjoying Shakespeare with his two sisters Emily and Fanny in Shimla. At that time through out central Asia a great political warfare was going on which we know as "The Great Game". Russia and England were expanding their territories and a chance of clash between this two great nations in Afghanistan is just a matter of time. British wants to takedown King of Afganistan, Dost Mohammad and put Sah Suja instead of him, so that they can use Afganistan as a buffer. Both the nations deployed their spys in Afghanistan. One of the greatest British spy, Alexander Burns was writing reports constantly to Kolkata that there is no need of war because Dost Mohammad wants to become friend (Dost in hindi) with the British. But who cares about what Burns is saying. Lord Auckland said war and there was war. The British were soundly defeated by the Afgans. So this is the connection with Kolkata. But Auckland Circus Gardens? Well Lord Auckland used to live at today's Raj Bhavan. There was a big ground beside it which was decorated under the authority of Emily and Fanny. They named it "Auckland Circus Gardens". But after some years they gave it to Kolkata cricket club and they changed the name. It is because Lord Auckland's actual name was George Eden and that's why the ground later named "Eden Gardens".
Whether it is 1987 WorldCup final or India vs Australia historical test match in 2001. Whether it is 199th test match of great Sachin Tendulkar or the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup final, doesn't matter. Believe me, Eden Gardens always surprises us and we are being mesmerized by it, like it's own story.
In the right side of the painting you can see a soilder. Exhausted from war, even his horse is not looks very well. There is not much energy left in him. In the left side you can see a fort and some charioteers are rushing towords that soilder. This painting is called "Remnants of an Army". The fort is Jalalabad Fort and the soilder was William Briden. In 1839, 16000 soilders of British Army attacked Afganistan. After 3 years in 1842, only one came back. But what is the connection between this painting and Kolkata? Well you need to know about that person for whom Briden faced this situation. He was the Governor General of India at that time, Lord Auckland. British Government made a huge mistake by appointing him as the Governor General of India. It is because he had no interest in this country and in it's culture. When a terrible famine broke out in the country he was enjoying Shakespeare with his two sisters Emily and Fanny in Shimla. At that time through out central Asia a great political warfare was going on which we know as "The Great Game". Russia and England were expanding their territories and a chance of clash between this two great nations in Afghanistan is just a matter of time. British wants to takedown King of Afganistan, Dost Mohammad and put Sah Suja instead of him, so that they can use Afganistan as a buffer. Both the nations deployed their spys in Afghanistan. One of the greatest British spy, Alexander Burns was writing reports constantly to Kolkata that there is no need of war because Dost Mohammad wants to become friend (Dost in hindi) with the British. But who cares about what Burns is saying. Lord Auckland said war and there was war. The British were soundly defeated by the Afgans. So this is the connection with Kolkata. But Auckland Circus Gardens? Well Lord Auckland used to live at today's Raj Bhavan. There was a big ground beside it which was decorated under the authority of Emily and Fanny. They named it "Auckland Circus Gardens". But after some years they gave it to Kolkata cricket club and they changed the name. It is because Lord Auckland's actual name was George Eden and that's why the ground later named "Eden Gardens".
Whether it is 1987 WorldCup final or India vs Australia historical test match in 2001. Whether it is 199th test match of great Sachin Tendulkar or the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup final, doesn't matter. Believe me, Eden Gardens always surprises us and we are being mesmerized by it, like it's own story.
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