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Get the latest Fantasy Football news, cheat sheets, draft rankings and player stats from CBS Sports. Fantasy Sounds' title='Fantasy Sounds' />Victoria and Abdul The True Story Behind the Movie. The first time Shrabani Basu heard of Abdul Karim, she was carrying out research for a book about the history of curry in the late 1. A few years later, while on holiday with her family, she came across a painting of Karim in Osborne House, a former private home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on the U. K. s Isle of Wight. Basu was immediately struck by the fact that Karim whom she thought was a servant had been painted beautifully, in red and gold, with a book in his hand. I knew that Abdul Karim had come from India to England to serve Queen Victoria in 1. Basu tells TIME during a meeting at her literary agents office in London in early September. Later, in Queen Victorias dressing area, I saw two pictures one of the Queens confidant John Brown, and below it, Karim. He was obviously someone very special to her. Karims photos sparked Basus curiosity. Who was this young Muslim man from Agra, northern India, at the heart of Britains royal court And what had his relationship with the Queen of England been like In 2. Basu committed herself to researching Karims story. The resulting book, Victoria and Abdul The True Story of the Queens Closest Confidant, would take her four years to research and write, and would later be adapted into a movie. That movie, Victoria and Abdul, starring Judi Dench as the Queen and Bollywood fixture Ali Fazal as Karim, opened in limited cities Sept. Basu read through the private papers of the Queens household, from letters Victoria wrote to her viceroys, to documents penned by her doctor, Sir James Reid. Reids notes revealed that he detested the pairs unconventional friendship. He described Victorias warmth towards Karim as Munshi mania, using a word that refers to native language teachers, commonly used at the time of the British Empire. Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim. Fantasy Sounds' title='Fantasy Sounds' />
Peter MountainFocus Features. Windsor Castle granted Basu permission to access the 1. Queens Hindustani journals, in which Victoria would practice her Urdu, the Hindustani language. Basu noted that the Queen would often sign off notes to Karim, her Urdu teacher, with dearest mother or your loving mother. But Basu could not see the whole picture. Get the latest fantasy news, stats, and injury updates for Baltimore Ravens running back Danny Woodhead from CBS Sports. Many of the letters the pair exchanged had been set alight after Queen Victorias death, and her own journals had been edited to remove references to Karim. The racist royal households accounts were one sided, Basu says, and Karims diaries, frequently referred to with abhorrence by Victorias staff, were missing and presumably destroyed. Basu flew to Agra to search for descendants of Karim, who had no children and died in 1. Queen Victoria. With the help of a local journalist, she found Karims grave. It was such a desolate sight with stray dogs, graffiti and brambles everywhere, she says. When Basu eventually tracked down Karims home, there was another family living there. They told Basu that Karims relatives had left for Pakistan after the Partition the division of British India into India and Pakistan in 1. The trail had gone cold. Games Sonic Hedgehog Pc'>Games Sonic Hedgehog Pc. The first edition of Basus book was published in 2. But she hadnt given up hope of finding Karims family. I had hit a wall, but Im not the kind of person to ever think, Oh well, thats it, she says. I decided that in every post publication interview I would say that I was still looking for the descendants of this man. Within barely two weeks of the hardbacks publication, Basu was contacted by Karims family in Bangalore, India. For years I was hunting that family and when they came forward I realized that friends of mine knew them, Basu says. My sister joked that they were hiding under our noses the whole timeStill of Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim in Victoria and Abdul. Experience music, dancing and more in a celebration of Fantasyland during the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade at Magic Kingdom park. Final Fantasy IV, the fourth entry in the facemeltingly popular Final Fantasy game series and the first 16bit game in the series. The main character of. The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire. The Hugowinning author returns with the 11th entry in her urban fantasy series about halfhuman, halffairy October Daye. The latest entry in the longrunning Final Fantasy series is already a major hit on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And it sounds like the game or. Peter MountainFocus Features. Karims descendants decided to speak out after seeing an interview with Basu, titled Abdul was no Rasputin, in a local publication. They told Basu that they had not previously come forward because they had felt ashamed of their distant relation. Prevx Patch Windows 7. The portrayal of Karim in Western biographies is of such a rogue, of someone who manipulated the Queen and got famous. They didnt want to acknowledge him, Basu says. In a way Ive united them with their ancestor, which is a wonderful feeling. They now know not to be ashamed of him. Basu was overwhelmed when the family told her they had in their possession Karims original journals which had long been assumed destroyed. She traveled to meet Karims relatives in Karachi, Pakistan, to see the historic documents for herself. When they were handed over to me, it was an amazing moment, she says. Theres a line in one that says, Whoevers hand this falls into, I hope they like this story. And after over a hundred years it had fallen into my hands. The journals were remarkably well preserved, and Basu spent a week translating them while being graciously hosted by Karims family in Pakistan. It was unbelievable that the family had held onto the diaries for so long, she says. They had lost everything after Partition all of Karims presents from England, including a tea set gifted from the Russian Tzar and a jewel encrusted walking stick from the Shah of Iran, had gone. Luckily, someone had the good sense to keep the diary close. Basu revised the book for a second edition, and the movie was optioned immediately following its 2. While some dramatic license has been taken, most of the adaptation is true to the events that took place, Basu says. Queen Victorias staff did bring her a mango from India, she says, referring to one of the films most memorable moments. Karim told her it would be rotten but she really wanted to try one. Her staff had one sent over, but of course it took six weeks to arrive and went off in the meantime. Still of Judy Dench and Ali Fazal in Victoria and Abdul. Peter MountainFocus Features. The movie is set during a difficult period in Englands history, the Raj era, a time characterized by imperial oppression for India and Indians. It presents Queen Victorias views as unexpectedly progressive, while addressing some of the thornier issues of the time with a fairly light touch decisions which have drawn somecriticism. But Basu disagrees with those critiques. I am the last person to like Raj nostalgia. I cant stand the stuff, she says. The thing is, its not fiction its fact. Whatever is being shown on screen actually happened its not some cooked up jewel in the crown Raj nostalgia story. This happened. Queen Victoria learned Urdu, she wanted her mango and she stood by Abdul Karim. It sounds like a fantasy, but it isnt. What is important, Basu feels, is for Karims story to finally be told. This was a story the British were trying to erase, she says. And its a very important story to tell. Queen Victoria learned Urdu for 1. Muslim feeling. Basu would like to see Karims story on school curricula. For the first time, there was a young Muslim man at the heart of the royal court, she says. Its never happened before and its never happened since. The only way we can go forward from the nasty business of Empire is by celebrating our shared history and heritage, by letting people of the former colonies know that they played a role in this history and that they have an important stake in it. We need to tell these forgotten stories. Welcome to Syrinscape. Syrinscape is a dynamic, easy to use application designed to create continuous, repetition free sound environments.