24.002224 N, 85.367609 E


​Bridge of Allan. Scotland. April 2015.

The sky unwilling to lose the clouds. The ground unwilling to lose the water. The space between unwilling to lose the wind.

The curious chronicler walks up the incline, shoulders drooping, his posture parallel to the ascent of the surface. A brief wait at the Clock - this umbrella is fucking useless - and the car pulls in, its left door thrown open. Inside, the descendant.

What does one make of moments like this?
 
In 1857, Captain Thomas Rattray dispatched 150 soldiers to Hazaribagh to end the revolt. Where did they stay?

Rattray House, colonially. Colloquially, Lal Kothi. A building ten minutes on foot. A building where, as long as the chronicler can remember, a public corporation has been keeping its accounts.
 
There are two students in the car. The elder explores a map of India through the tip of his finger, the younger studies its plateau. They draw connections as the winding country draws them together. They pull at a history older than a century, stretch it into the present, and are made by it.
 
Yes, the house the carries the name of your great grandfather - here are some photos.

*