The Umbrella Story
The Umbrella Story
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| Top Left: Shree 420 (1955) Top Right: Mary Poppins Bottom Left: Lamhe Middle: Kingsman Right: Singing in the Rain |
Most of the men in jackets, waterproof or
otherwise, and women hunched in shawls, scurried for shelter or tried to
protect himself/herself from the rain. I hardly saw an umbrella covering any
head. After some time, I wondered- have umbrellas gone out of fashion? This
brought me to the question of umbrella itself, and its importance. And will you
believe it, USA observes today, the 10th of February, as National Umbrella
Day?
Remember the times when you could get only
black fabric umbrellas? In Dehradun where it would rain any time during the
day, people always wore a coat and carried an umbrella. We did not feel any
shame in lugging this appendage. We got it repaired and re-repaired from the chhatriwala
who was seen only during the monsoons. One had to learn to balance the folds of
clothes, bags, or books in one hand and keep a tight grip on the umbrella when
gusts of wind attempted to fly it along or worse, inverted it.
Then they started coming in red, and smaller
multicoloured ones, for children.
Times changed and soon anyone going abroad had
one request from me, to get a colourful plastic parasol which was lightweight, protected
from the sun and could be folded into a small package to be kept in the handbag.
Now they are commonplace. But they were flimsy and have a shorter life.
Yet, you still see black umbrellas covering the
heads of tennis fans during Wimbledon matches as they sit through the game.
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| Left: Tedung, Bali Right top: Kovil Kudai (Chennai) Right Bottom: Ethiopian Orthodox church |
You may recall various types of umbrellas-
simple monochrome/multicoloured, plain/heavily embellished. You may have seen
them in use for covering the deity/sacred book/religious head during a
religious procession/groom’s head during wedding procession/sunshades in
gardens and eateries/tiny paper ones to decorate cocktails and
mocktails/objects of contemporary art. A gold and red umbrella is one of the
items of the papal regalia. We have seen white ones being used to cut out the
glare during photography.
Aren’t we aware too of how the umbrellas can be used as a weapon to shoo away, beat, pierce/poke, and in crime thrillers, to inject poison? I was impressed with the use of this article as a weapon of defence and offence by Rachel Skarsten in The Royal Nanny, “A Lansberg nanny never leaves without her umbrella.”
Umbrellas have been used as an object to add
interest in films as well as art. Who can forget the iconic scene of Shree 420
where Raj Kapoor and Nargis sang under an umbrella in the pouring rain or Julie
Andrews’ umbrella scene in Mary Poppins which posed a huge risk to her life? Or
even Anupama Kher’s buffoonery in Lamhe! (Top photo)
Tibetan Buddhists consider parasol as an
auspicious symbol. Umbrellas depicted on Chinese and Japanese pottery and vases
always catch everyone’s eyes.
Umbrella, the word, comes from Latin word umbra, meaning shade or shadow. Brolly is a slang word for umbrella, often used in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
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| Top left: Antonis van Dyke Marchesa Elena Grimaldi 1623 Top right: Georges Seurat, A Sunday on Le Grande Jatte 1884 Bottom L: Hiroshige Sudden Shower Over Shin Ohashi Bridge & Atake 1857 Bottom Right: Rainy day Boston Childe Hassam 1885 |
We all have to thank Jean Marius, a merchant
from Paris, credited with making the first lightweight foldable umbrella in
1710.
Ancient art of Egypt from as early as than 2400
BC has depicted feathers and palm leaves used as umbrellas. Images from the Aztecs,
Greeks, Siamese and especially Chinese and Japanese have shown the use of
umbrellas. They came back in vogue in Europe in the 17th century and
there are references to taffeta and voile umbrellas coated with wax used by women to protect them from the sun.
Sunny days are back, soon it will be summer and
then the rains. Take out your umbrellas, let them enjoy a pride of place among
things to be taken out of the house with you, use them, flaunt them.
I shall be travelling, so there shall be no blog posts on the next two Saturdays. Meanwhile, take care.
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I remember one of my Scottish friend on his visit to us giftean umbrella to my wife when We used to be at Agra and he requested my wife to go to terrace where he gifted her in an open condition as per his tradition. He informed that umbrella must not be giftedin a room as it is bad omen. Well written and interesting.
ReplyDeleteLovely as always Anu🎊
ReplyDeleteSo lovely....one of our earliest tools. I've always thought that we could do so much better than a black umbrella.
ReplyDeleteI greatly enjoy your fusing of quotodian with history, folklore, imagination and humour.
ReplyDeleteहैं और भी दुनिया में सुख़न-वर बहुत अच्छे
कहते हैं कि 'Aapka' का है अंदाज़-ए-बयाँ और
Rajiv Tyagi
Very informative and shows how far we're deviating from old traditions.. 🙏
ReplyDeleteHappy traveling. Come back with lots of interesting things to write about!
ReplyDeleteFor a Keralite, umbrella was his extended arm. With age, the length of the umbrella also grew. It was that stronger alter leg for the aged to lean on. Though the new Gen went under the hoody, a large population still enjoy that umbrella 🌂
ReplyDeleteVery interesting ...
ReplyDeleteIn old classic movies there used to be a wooden hat ,coat and umbrella hanger at the entrance .
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and informative write up about umbrella ☔🏖️ Enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteWonderful Anupama👍 your style of writing can make any subject so interesting, supported with history and beautiful pics, the use of umbrella in drinks..too good😀
ReplyDeleteThank you for shedding light on the enduring significance of umbrellas. In Kerala, especially during those nostalgic school days. Your insightful blog provides a fantastic wealth of information about this cherished companion, adding depth to our appreciation for the role umbrellas play in our lives. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteWell researched,informative and the dose of Anupama humour. Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteHow did the title "Chhatrapati" originate?
A very interesting and informative piece. There are these Kerala umbrellas, with a bamboo stick and palm leaves. They cannot be folded. They are somewhat similar to the Burmese and Vietnamese umbrellas. They can still be seen in Kerala used frequently by Namboodiri women.
DeleteI think all kings had a ceremonial umbrella. The emperor had a distinctive one.
DeleteI was wondering where this article was going, but you write so well that it keeps all of us absorbed perfectly.
ReplyDeleteThank you Anupama