The silk route covered a large
part of the known world few centuries before. It has emerged over several
millennia and its rudiments were also traceable in the time of the great
pharaohs who ruled Egypt. It has been in existence during the course of human
civilizations in its different phases. Thus, it was in existence during the
time of the Roman Empire, the rise of Islam, the Ottoman Empire, the Mughals
and even during the periods of the Russian Tsars and the Europeans empires in
Asia. The road was the life line of the human economic existence for centuries.
It encompassed land routes as well as sea routes. Broadly, it extended from
Europe through Egypt, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Afghanistan,
Central Asia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Java-Indonesia, and
Vietnam until it reached China. Jamrud’s location on the silk route gave the
small local population sufficient custom.
Supriya is basically a name
from the Eastern part of India, particularly Bengal.
A Sikh family adopting this
name for their daughter was something different. But, it has been given to the
daughter of the Sikh family by a Bengali gentleman who was in the service of
the British forces stationed in Jamrud and the Sikh family has picked up close
friendship with them. The family has in its treasure trove of family lore and
legends several reminisces of its elders and ancestors who have remained part
of the British Army and some of them had got training in Calcutta and have also
remained stationed in the Britishers’ Indian empire nerve centre, Fort William
from where the English ruled vast racks of the Indian subcontinent. Thus, the
name Supriya though unusual was given to the girl child of the Sikh
family.
Supriya
was an intelligent child. Her father has once gifted her a set of Meccano. The
use of Meccano as a toy for a little girl was highly unusual too. Seeing a girl
playing with dolls has remained a natural spectacle all across the world. But,
plying and manipulating parts of Meccano was something really different.
Meccano is no longer is wide circulation now-a-days. The toy though still being
manufactured has lost its glamour for children. Meccano toy is a model
construction system consisting of several parts of iron and re-usable metal
strips, plates, angles, girders, wheels, axles, and gears with nuts and bolts
to connect these pieces. The toy set is used to construct mechanical devices
like trolley, cranes, toy cars, carts and a number of such devices. Its inventor
was Frank Hornby and it was manufactured by Meccano Limited between 1908 and
1980. The little Supriya has adopted the toy well and was sometimes
constructing devices that were not even shown in the manual which accompanied
each set. Her mathematics also amazed the local teachers too. Naturally,
the girl child Supriya was destined to go to places over next few
decades.
Her
brilliance and sharp mind was equally matched by her body that has some sort of
aura.
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