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April 18, 2003
Connecticut - a Nursery of Men
Connecticut, one of the earliest colonies set up in early seventeenth century by the European Puritans and Pilgrims, continues to be a fascinating land even for the modern-day traveler. For, the state has been, and continues to be, the nursery of men of courage, confidence, vision and qualities of leadership.
Alexis de Tocqueville, an authority on the 19th century America and author of the much-quoted book “Democracy in America” counted 39 members of the Congress - one-eighth of the total- who had been born and brought up in Connecticut. The Yale in Connecticut, the Harvard in Massachusetts, the Brown in Rhode Island and other Ivy League learning centers of excellence, continue to furnish to the nation with men equipped with the requisite qualities of head and heart to be the leaders of people in various walks of life. President Bush and Joseph Lieberman are both from Yale.
Connecticut was and is an independent-minded, competitive political state that has swung repeatedly from one party to the other, from election to election and has often provided to both major political parties with men of outstanding political caliber. This might create the misconception that “Connecticut” stands for ‘connect’ and ‘cut’ - connect to one party, then cut the cord and join the other.
The name is actually an Anglicized version of the Red Indian word ‘Quinatuequet’ for the river that runs north to south in the middle of the territory serving as its life blood.
Joe Lieberman has throughout been a steady Democrat. But, his Jewish descent and conservative religious beliefs might have weighed in favor of his support to the war in Iraq that is generally opposed by the Democrats. Lieberman, 60, learned the political ropes, the wheeling and dealing from John Bailey, the Democratic political guru of the state for half a century. Lieberman’s books, ‘The Power Broker’ and ‘The Legacy’ describe the life and work of Bailey.
River Connecticut was the chief attraction for the European settlers. Timothey Dwight, writing of his travels in 1837 wrote of this marvelous river: “The purity, salubrity, and sweetness of its waters, the frequency and elegance of its meanders, its absolute freedom from aquatic vegetables, the uncommon and universal beauty of its banks, here a smooth and winding beach, there covered with rich verdure, now fringed with bushes, now covered with lofty trees, and now formed by the intruding hills, the rude bluff and the shaggy mountain, are subjects which no traveler can thoroughly describe.”
Let me add that it is not a majestic river, it is rather a friendly stream inviting intimacy and eliciting affection. Its banks must have struck the Founding Fathers as open-armed havens for groups seeking to live in freedom and practice their beliefs without interference of any authority. No wonder, towns were named New Haven, East Haven, and West Haven.
Modern technology has drastically altered the natural beauty of the river and the habitations on its banks. Once a rural and agricultural region, the landscape is today replete with super highways, industrial plants, skyscrapers and housing developments. Yet, the area retains its natural beauty. Many residential areas still flaunt century old houses built with planks, clipboards and shingles, rectangular or L shaped, with the garages tucked away from the main house, probably a relic of the days of horse and carriage. Almost all such houses are painted white and sit at a distance from each other.
In many residential areas, condominiums and apartment buildings are conspicuous by their absence. People prefer a rambling house with vast tracts of green all around surrounded by tall oaks, elms, maple and conifer trees - an ideal place for a three-generation family with growing kids. It is not unusual to spot a high village green disclosing roofs of substantial white houses built two centuries ago. Always there is the white finger of the New England meeting house pointing towards the heaven. Constant reminders of the life hereafter to an already religious people are the open and visible cemeteries along the main streets of towns, unlike the ones hedged by high walls in California and elsewhere. It is relevant to recall here that the people who came to New England were driven by a strong desire to set up a theocracy.
Although the desire to propagate certain religious beliefs was inherent in each of the river’s institutions of learning in their beginnings, it yielded to a liberalism and innovation of thought before long. Almost a dozen seats of learning were set up along and around the banks of Connecticut. From their vine-covered buildings have emerged men and women possessed of treasures of the heart and mind without which, in the words of historian Walter Ward, “no nation can grow; lacking which civilization itself may be wiped out, even through its own scientific genius.”
The creative thinking fostered in these institutions unleashed ‘the scientific genius’ too. A host of innovations stand to the credit of Connecticut. From 1845 to 1945, it turned from an agrarian to an industrial society. The motivating force throughout the century remained the exceptional investment in man and the recognition of an individual’s attainments, not his descent. The break from the caste-ridden societies of Europe was paying rich dividends.
Understandably, the early writers and scholars of New England were mostly clergymen whose works comprised largely of their sermons. In the last quarter of the 19th century, young graduates of Yale formed a writers’ association called the Hartford Wits. They produced humor and satire. Newspapers provided a valuable outlet to the writers. Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, grew into a publishing center of America with the great success of the American Publishing Company. It had become a sort of shrine for all literary visitors. Perhaps the most prominent among these was Mark Twain, who built a boat-shaped house in Hartford and spent two decades there. It is preserved as a monument. He produced many of his immortal works there.
Charles Dickens, the eminent novelist, traveled up the Connecticut river in 1842 when he visited America to pay tribute to the literary figure Mrs. Sigourney. In his American Notes, he wrote: “Hartford is a lovely place and I have many friends there.”
Rudyard Kipling and his wife came to the center of learning in 1992 and made it their home for four years. Kipling wrote his famous Jungle Book in his new abode. Mrs. Kipling had difficulty adjusting to the new environ, so they returned to England. Their boat-like house named Naulahkha still rests at anchor in the Vermont hills.
Numerous painters, sculptors and poets visited similarly the literary and artistic shrine of Connecticut. They enjoyed each other’s company. “The ornament of a house”, Mark Twain observed aptly, “is the friends who frequent it.” {The writer is currently on a visit to his daughter in Connecticut. - Editor } (arifhussaini@hotmail.com, Ph: 714-921-9634).
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