tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-368878922024-03-19T02:47:14.689-07:00Roots and WingsDo not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live. - FlaubertSrinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-42554051928987707052021-06-28T12:47:00.004-07:002021-06-28T20:12:00.436-07:00Book: Keepers of the Faith by Shaukat Ajmeri<p>At a time when we are witnessing religious<wbr></wbr> revivalism<wbr></wbr> in a garish form all around us, here is a novel that presents the flip side of religion. Keepers of the Faith presents the recent history of the close-knit Shia Muslim community of Momins. Rigorous and nuanced in presenting religious aspects of the Momin sect, some of which actually happened in the Seventies, the narrative proceeds through a beautiful love story between Akbar and Rukshana. </p><p>What happens with the Momin community is in many ways no different from what happens with many other communities. Argument and negotiation with the traditionalists<wbr></wbr> is bound to fail. What the traditionalists seek is often<wbr></wbr> not a rational<wbr></wbr> argument<wbr></wbr> and textual<wbr></wbr> interpretation.<wbr></wbr> The promise<wbr></wbr> of authority and identity are what draw a lot of people to radical religious communities.<wbr></wbr> Young<wbr></wbr> people, often marginalized and<wbr></wbr> alienated get drawn. They then become political tools.</p><p>The way the author captures the trepidation of a love that is just blossoming between two youngsters, and the subsequent explosion of the long suppressed love, is moving. </p><p>What is clear is that any positive engagement with a religion is less likely to produce a liberal religion. It is more likely to accelerate reactionism. That leaves us only with the option of transformation of public sensibility. Pluralism, diversity, and basic liberties must become non-negotiable in public sensibility irrespective of the religious denomination. In Keepers of the Faith one reads about the horrific practice of female circumcision in the Momin community. It is one example of the perils of a blind acceptance of religious practices.</p><p>True art must clarify life for us, establish some models of human action, celebrate the good and mourn the tragic, and overall must expand our understanding of what it means to be truly human. Novels are one art form that have a tremendous potential.</p><p>Novels like Keepers of the Faith certainly help to improve public sensibility. In the Foreword for the book, Prof Ismail K Poonawala writes that Keepers of the Faith should be read by all Momins conversant with English. Yes, indeed, and others too. The narrative certainly must make every reader reflect about their own religion and its keepers.</p><p> </p>Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-83889133081576165432019-05-23T11:38:00.001-07:002019-05-24T02:07:07.187-07:00Elections 2019 - through War and Peace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party has secured a strong mandate to govern India for a second term. In the five years of the preceding term many of the founding ideals came under strain. The election process also was marred by several transgressions by the ruling party. Notably, a wilful and blatant flouting of election commission rules by the ruling party, and cocking a snook at the good traditions of civilized electoral practices by fielding a terror suspect into the fray. Also invoking the army in election campaigns, which is against the rules.</div>
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None of that seems to have mattered to the voters and if anything the PM's stock seems to have gone further up. It makes you think whether it is just the "power" of an individual to subject a nation to his will or if there is something more to it.</div>
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Elections 2019 clearly appear to be driven by sectarianism, aggressive nationalism and a kind of inexplicable hatred towards liberalism among a vast majority of Indians. That appears more plausible than to ascribe the results to Modi's "oratory", or Shah's booth managing "genius" , or even to the "ineffective" communication of the opposition and so on.</div>
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The great Leo Tolstoy in his novel War and Peace devotes an entire chapter (Second Epilogue) to the discussion of questions like how did individuals make nations act as they wished. According to Tolstoy, the inner events of human beings are the most real and immediate experiences and they constitute what life is made of. In his view the routine political historians who write history as a series of public events are not providing the correct perspective.</div>
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Throughout the novel Tolstoy illustrates the difference between written history and the private history through the lives of the statesmen and commanders who are the players. He demonstrates how little control they have over the destiny of the events they believe they command, while the "soldiers" who do the fighting are the most responsible for its outcome. These men delude themselves by believing that it is their memoranda, resolutions, councils and orders that determine the outcome.</div>
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Tolstoy's argument is that even men of destiny like Napoleon are impostors as no single will or theory can fit the immense variety of possible human behavior, the vast number of possible causes and effects which form that interplay of men and nature which results in the events recorded.</div>
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Tolstoy throughout the novel, and especially in the chapter Second Epilogue, tries to prove that it is an illusion if individuals think they can understand and control the course of events by their own resources. Ordinary day to day lives of common people result in social, political and economic phenomena and not the other way round.</div>
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Tolstoy believes that our lives are subject to a control of natural law along with the entire universe. We are unable to accept this "inexorable process" and instead view our existence as regulated by the wilful acts of individuals with a capacity for good or evil. These individuals in their egoism take responsibility for events as that provides them with an imaginary significance. Like a mosquito flying in an aeroplane thinking that it is flying the plane.</div>
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Tolstoy examines the question of free will and inevitability. He stresses on the reality of an inexorable historical determinism. See this paragraph in Second Epilogue-</div>
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"If we consider a man alone, apart from his relation to everything around him, each action of his seems to us free. But if we see his relation to anything around him, if we see his connection with anything whatever—with a man who speaks to him, a book he reads, the work on which he is engaged, even with the air he breathes or the light that falls on the things about him—we see that each of these circumstances has an influence on him and controls at least some side of his activity. And the more we perceive of these influences the more our conception of his freedom diminishes and the more our conception of the necessity that weighs on him increases."</div>
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"The degree of our conception of freedom or inevitability depends in this respect on the greater or lesser lapse of time between the performance of the action and our judgment of it."</div>
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I think what Tolstoy is trying to infer is that, at the point while we are participating in the event it appears like we are exercising our free will. When removed from the present, say in a few years, it may seem that our actions lacked free will and we were acting on a natural course controlled by the universe.</div>
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I am trying to use these insights from Tolstoy to console myself when faced with the stark illiberalism, and such huge support for divisive, majoritarian politics in India. That some necessity (a necessity to cater to their base bigoted worldview?) maybe driving the vast majority of Indian voters to have voted the way they have done.</div>
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A few years back Fareed Zakaria had written this in his book The Future of Freedom-</div>
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"But looking under the covers of Indian democracy one sees a more complex and troubling reality. In recent decades, India has become something quite different from the picture in the hearts of its admirers. Not that it is less democratic: in important ways it has become more democratic. But it has become less tolerant, less secular, less law-abiding, less liberal. And these two trends—democratization and illiberalism—are directly related."</div>
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Zakaria's words just became truer in India today.</div>
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Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-84771993947529183252019-04-18T06:08:00.000-07:002019-05-13T02:28:12.496-07:00The Fascinating World of Words<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr">"Compared to the drama of words, Hamlet is a light farce". said Anatoly Liberman.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Words indeed have hidden lives. Not all of us take an interest in the many common and uncommon words we employ in our communication. If we did care, what we are sure to discover is the fascinating world of words.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">There is one man who has indeed taken this interest in words a different level altogether. His name is Anu Garg, an Indian born computer engineer settled in the USA. He started, in 1994, what the New York Times called "arguably the most welcomed, most enduring piece of daily mass e-mail in cyberspace"</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">Anu Garg sends out a simple email every day, A.Word.A.Day (AWAD), containing a word, its definition and etymology, and an example of its current contextual usage; this to more than a quarter million subscribers around the world. Incidentally, recently, on the 14th of March this service completed 25 years.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr">I have been a loyal subscriber to A Word A Day for a long time and there have been countless occasions when stories about some words have left me absolutely enthralled. For example, the word Window comes from Old Norse, the predecessor of English, in which it meant "wind's eye". How poetic, isn't it?</div><br />
<div dir="ltr">Garg organises words into themes. One week the featured words could be Eponyms, words that are derived from people's names (for example, shrapnel, after a British army officer). Another week it could be words borrowed from another language, such as Yiddish, or Sanskrit. Sometimes he provides words that have some interesting and unusual patterns. The word Facetious, for example, is a word with all five vowels, once and only once, and in order.</div><br />
<div dir="ltr">Any dictionary can provide you with a large collection of words. As the French novelist Anatole France called a dictionary "the universe in alphabetical order". What Mr Garg does through A Word A Day is to identify and present some of the more interesting words with their biographies.<br />
That biography of a word- the story behind it is called etymology (from Greek etymos which means true).</div><br />
<div dir="ltr">Some people think that everyday words are enough as they are afraid that if they use an uncommon word the others may not understand. It's a Catch-22 situation. Others don’t understand the words because the words are not used often. Garg suggests that we look at words as a color palette. You don’t have to use all the colors in a painting, but it helps to be able to use the right shade. There are some, like Dr Shashi Tharoor, who employ uncommon words in their writing and speech. This gives a certain vibrancy to their communication.</div><br />
<div dir="ltr">Anu Garg has also brought out a couple of books that contain a selection of some of the words appearing in A Word A Day. Let's look at some common words with their intetesting backgrounds. These have featured in the AWAD over the years and also in one Anu Garg's books - "<b>The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two</b>".</div><br />
<div dir="ltr"><b>PUPIL</b> The two senses of this word, a student and the part in the center of the eye, are related. We got this word from the Latin pupus meaning a boy and pupa meaning a girl.<br />
In the part in the center of the eye, even adults appear small like little children. And that’s why that part of the eye is called a pupil.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
<b>ADMIRAL</b> What could the commander in chief of a fleet have in common with a Muslim ruler? Admiral is another form of the word emir/amir, the title of the head of state in some Islamic countries. It came from amir al meaning “commander of”.</div><div dir="ltr"><br />
<b>SYMPOSIUM</b> Symposium was originally a “drinking party”. Drinking has a way of relaxing the tongue, and that idea grew into the current sense of symposium where people gather to engage in conversation on a topic.</div><br />
<div dir="ltr"><b>TAXICAB</b> A taxi is, well, one which taxes. It’s a shortened form of “taximeter”, which is the name of the device that calculates the fare.</div><br />
<div dir="ltr"><b>TRAVEL</b> The word travel comes from another word, travail, which means hard, painful work.<br />
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<div dir="ltr"><b>SALARY</b> The word salary came to English from the Latin salarium, which means an allowance for salt. In olden times salt was expensive. So soldiers used to get rations of salt. The word came from the Latin “sal”, meaning”salt”.</div><br />
<div dir="ltr"><b>POLITE</b> When you’re polite, you are polished, from Latin polire (to polish).</div><br />
<div dir="ltr"><b>GLAMOUR</b> This word is another form of the word “grammar”. The magical charm sense of the word arose because grammar, or learning, used to be associated with the occult.</div><br />
<div dir="ltr"><b>PLAGIARISM</b> When one plagiarizes, one is kidnapping words of another, so to speak. The term comes from Latin “plagium” (kidnapping).</div><br />
<div dir="ltr"><b>ENTHUSIASM</b> Today, if someone is called enthusiastic, it’s seen as a compliment. But it wasn’t always like that. In the 1840s, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Everywhere the history of religion betrays a tendency to enthusiasm.” At that time, enthusiasm meant being possessed by God or a vain confidence of being divinely inspired. It’s from Greek theos (god).</div><br />
<div dir="ltr"><b>NAUSEA</b> If you’ve ever felt sick by the swaying motion of a boat, you’ve unknowingly experienced the origin of nausea. It came to English from the Greek word “naus”, meaning a ship. The motion of a ship causes many people to feel sick in the stomach. That’s why it’s also called motion sickness or seasickness.</div><br />
<div dir="ltr">The Webster’s dictionary contains some half a million words. The words that have featured in A Word A Day in the last 25 years exceeds 5000. So many great stories have been shared on words and the world of words never stops fascinating. The words that have featured in AWAD have all been archived at <a href="http://wordsmith.org/">wordsmith.org</a>. See my blog page (<a href="http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.com/p/words.html" target="_blank">Word Resources</a>) for a thematic arrangement of links to AWAD archives.<br />
</div></div>Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-38553571814047666582016-07-24T00:24:00.001-07:002016-07-26T23:34:27.382-07:00Book: Farthest Field by Raghu Karnad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Recently I completed reading Jawaharlal Nehru's autobiography called Towards Freedom. The autobiography, which inevitably is also an account of the events in the nation's struggle for independence, ends at the year 1935. There is also a section at the end of the book, subsequently added, that briefly mentions the events of the next five years. Nehru mentions about the start of the second world war and the demand of Indian National Congress for self-determination in exchange for cooperation in the war. He also records the fact that the British did not agree to this. Here is what happened to the demand, in his own words-<br />
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"...imperialism thinks otherwise and imagines that it can continue to function and to coerce people to do its will. Even when danger threatens, it is not prepared to get this very substantial help, if this involves a giving up of political and economic control over India. It does not care even for the tremendous moral prestige which could come to it, if it did the right thing in India and the rest of the Empire."<br />
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That is how the autobiography ends. The question of what happens in the intervening period, before India finally got Independence in 1947 is of great interest. By some happy coincidence, soon after reading the auto-biography I came across this amazing "forensic non-fiction" work called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Farthest-Field-Indian-Story-Second/dp/0393248097" target="_blank">Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War</a>.<br />
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Written by the promising young Indian writer Raghu Karnad, this book is a result of the author's pursuit to trace the story of his grandfather and a couple of other relatives who had fought in the second world war with the Indian army.<br />
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Reconstructing the events of the past with painstaking research, what he has gifted us is a rare account of the important years 1939-45 in Indian history.<br />
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In the prologue, the author points out how personal and institutional memories go through revising and reshaping. The interviews he conducted with the Indian veterans illustrated this, he says. Well, that must be true to some extent of any history. People remembering differently. Remembering some facts and forgetting others to suit a narrative. The author puts it nicely- "In general , their memories, like all memories, were smoothed and polished by time, as pebbles in a stream."<br />
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Perfect or not, memory of the nation's history is definitely important. What are we without a memory of our history? As Nietzsche said, it is only the beast that lives unhistorically.<br />
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The second world war must be one of the most recounted events in modern history. While ably providing the missing Indian context in the war, Farthest Field also helped me recall some great novels and movies made on the subject of the Second World War. All these works on the war usually have focused on just one aspect of or one location in the war.<br />
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Farthest Field holds your attention from page one. Divided into three parts, the action on the Indian mainland as well as on the western and the eastern parts of India are covered.<br />
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In the first chapter there is a description of the Parsi household from where the protagonist Bobby hails. At once ribbing and respectful, the definition runs like this: " The Parsis: pale as scalps, mad as coots, noses like commas on the page. They were devoutly civilised, consummately lawful...".<br />
The author certainly has a little license on the community, as his own grandmother, an important character in the book, Nurgesh (Nugs) hails from it. While reading this chapter I remembered Rohinton Mistry's fine novel, the Booker nominated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Such_a_Long_Journey_(novel)" target="_blank">Such a Long Journey</a>, which is entirely the story of a Parsi family. There is difference in the writing styles and there is no war in Such a Long Journey.<br />
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After setting down the backgrounds of the main protagonists Bobby and his brothers-in-law, Ganny and Manek in Part One, the action firmly shifts in Part Two to the war front on India's West. </div>
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Reading about the North African campaign and about the action in El Alamein brought to mind another Booker nominated novel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_English_Patient" target="_blank">The English Patient</a>. A lyrical, evocative novel by Michael Ondatje. Although that novel has the North African campaign of the Second World War as its backdrop, the major part of the story is set in an Italian villa. There is also an Indian character in The English Patient, named as Kip, a Sikh soldier, also a sapper like Bobby in Farthest Field.</div>
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Farthest Field impresses in terms of descriptions of actions in the war fronts. The actors being Indian soldiers also makes it even more interesting considering that there aren't many great war books involving Indians.<br />
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History only informs what happened. It takes fiction, or "forensic non-fiction" to really make it nuanced and relatable. The long list in the Bibliography indicates the attention paid by the author to get accurate details and accounts of fighting. Even so, as the story is built around collected facts, that too after so many years, there may be some imperfections. But, as the author notes in the prologue, this story is one "in which the lives of a few might stand in for many others."</div>
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Hemingway wrote two wonderful novels based on wars, weaving in poignant drama involving people caught in the wars. In the novel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Farewell_to_Arms" target="_blank">A Farewell to Arms</a>, the author used his own experience of working as an American ambulance driver in the Italian campaign of the World War One. And the other novel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Whom_the_Bell_Tolls" target="_blank">For Whom the Bell Tolls</a> was again based on the experiences of the author in the Spanish Civil War. It certainly helps to understand the human angles of the wars too in addition to the much heralded political angles.</div>
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Farthest Field too skillfully combines personal lives that get dramatically altered on account of war. Ganny and Nugs being one such couple that gets caught up in the whirlwind of war.</div>
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In part three, the action shifts to the war front on India's East. Reading about the Japanese advance through Burma and the surrender and retreat of the British, brought to mind images from the fascinating David Lean movie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_on_the_River_Kwai" target="_blank">The Bridge on the River Kwai</a>. In that movie set in Burma in 1943, a Japanese colonel puts a group of British war prisoners to work to build a bridge over the Kwai river. Reading about Bobby and his Bengal Sappers moving into coastal Burma, the imagery to me was strengthened by the recollection of the great movie.</div>
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The other sections that impress in this part of the book are the stark description of the great Bengal famine of 1943 and the gripping battle for Kohima that the Indian army fights with the Japanese.</div>
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In the afterword, the author provides a lucid summary of the events and the role of various agencies in India during the crucial period of 1939-45. One also gets a greater clarity on the background and role of the Indian National Army formed by Subhas Chandra Bose. Neither Nehru's Congress nor Bose's INA are depicted as game changers. The former comes across as largely ineffective, while the latter as almost insignificant. And the third set of people, neither left nor right leaning, were not so much concerned about either sides of the war - the fascists or the imperialists. The ones that joined the British Indian army mostly came from this group. Even if it was merely self-interest or a sense of adventure that drove them to join the military, they too deserve a place in the nation's memory. Farthest Field succeeds in reviving that memory. Whatever be their motivations or political views, these Indians fought so valiantly that they changed forever the perception about the Indian military force. </div>
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Hope this excellent book rekindles interest in our modern history. Somehow, the textbooks don't do an adequate job of drawing young minds deeper into the study of history. Vested political interests conniving to present a selective or an incomplete version of history through the school curriculum also doesn't help improve the situation.</div>
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Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-2044213375771042822015-09-06T09:59:00.000-07:002016-01-02T05:09:49.725-08:00Book: The Way Things Were by Aatish Taseer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This novel published last year is certainly one of the best books by an Indian novelist that I have read. When some recent events in the country are part of the narrative, one is naturally curious to see the author's perspective. Important events like the Emergency in 1975, the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, and the demolition of the mosque in 1992,- all these form a backdrop to the story in this novel.<br />
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The Way Things Were takes an honest and intelligent look at the political and social aspects of the country through the window of the Toby family. The novel begins with Skanda tasked with returning the body of his father Toby to India. In the process he comes in touch with his family. The history of his family is interwoven with that of the post-independence India. Another important element in the novel is Toby being deeply interested in Sanskrit and his son also carrying the same passion for the language.<br />
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I have a habit of noting down the page numbers whenever I come across passages or a quote that I find interesting. In this book there was so much that was interesting that I had to pause every few pages to take in the beauty of a turn of phrase, an observation, an interesting cognate of a Sanskrit word, and so on.<br />
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Look at the way the author presents the persona of Toby in just a couple of well chosen details-<br />
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"...there was an innocence, a naivety in his face that gave away as someone who could not have grown up in India. Not, at least, in north India, where even the stray dogs had a knowing and watchful look. It was strange: there was never a man who knew more about India and, yet, knew India less, than Toby. He was like one of those men who fall in love with the idea of a woman, while all the time insulating themselves from her reality." - pg 54<br />
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As Skanda discovers the story of his parents and other family members, we get to get to see the story of a family that goes through turmoil and change over each succeeding generation. Along with the family story, the author portrays the changes the country has gone through. In the process, a lot of insights are provided on the changing dynamics in terms of gender, class, caste and so on. Taseer is never sparing in his portrayal of the contradictions seen in the conduct of some sections of society. Here is a sample, where the author flashes his critical torchlight on the elite society of Delhi-<br />
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"...to both be in India and to stand at a distance from it. The members of this class, who were already set apart from the rest of the country by the loss of language, by privilege, of course, and by what had come to seem almost like racial differences, had no desire to shed their distinctiveness. They clung to it, in fact, wanting nothing so much as to remain inviolable and distinct: foreigners in their own country.<br />
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And yet - strange as it must seem- they had a corresponding desire to make a great show of their Indianness, to talk of classical dance recitals, of concerts, of textiles, and spirituality. To throw in the odd precious word or phrase of Hindustani, to upstage their social rivals with a little bit of exotica so obscure that no one could be expected to know it. India was their supreme affectation! They wore it to dinner, as it were; and, of course, the ways in which they were truly Indian - their blindness to dirt and poverty, their easy acceptance of cruelty - they concealed very well." - pg 56;<br />
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Important historical events in modern India like the Emergency also get a perceptive view in the backdrop of the travails of people caught in the storm. A couple of characters in the novel, called Vijaipaul and Gayatri Mann, prove handy for the author to come up with some strong views on the politics of the time.<br />
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On Emergency-<br />
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"...all it will do, this Emergency, is allow Indians to see themselves a little more clearly."<br />
"...by shattering the illusion of liberal democracy. It's very bad, you know, when you're such a third-rate place, to parade around high notions of liberalism and democracy, which is, as you know, developed at the height of another civilization's achievement; and which, in a place like India, only mask the reality. Hide the decay. Much better the end come fast."- pg 79;<br />
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And, about the demolition of the Babri mosque-<br />
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"This new order - they will use the epics, the poets, Manu, Ayodhya, whatever - and they will hollow them out of meaning. They will make slogans of them. That is what they want them for, as symbols of their rise, and nothing more. They don't want an intellectual rebirth; that requires hard work and labour; that, if taken all the way, can be a frightening thing. It can force you to confront things about your past that are uncomfortable." - pg 424;<br />
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References to Sanskrit language appear throughout the novel. Through the characters of Toby and Skanda, who never fail to find cognates (words of the same origin) to <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/words___other_languages/" target="_blank">Sanskrit words</a> they come across. For <a href="http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.in/p/words.html" target="_blank">word lovers</a> (I am one too!), the book is a treasure house. Every other page has some interesting reference to some word or the other.<br />
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Some examples of the glowing praise the Sanskrit language receives in the book are-<br />
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"...in a country where so little was planned, everything haphazard and shoddy, here, at least, was an example of the most exquisite planning."<br />
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"If we were to associate the genius of a place with one particular thing- the Russians with literature, say, or the Germans with music, the Dutch and Spanish with painting - we would have to say that the true genius of Ancient India was language. Not so much the use of it as the study of it: their grammars were peerless, easily the most profound meditation on language in pre-modern times." - pg 83;<br />
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"My great love was always this language, which I found as a young man. It seemed to me at the time to contain a whole universe of thought and feeling and sensibility. I believed it to be the most beautiful thing in the world.<br />
This I believed must be what the poets of old had meant when they spoke of language as a deathless thing and gave to its most basic unit - the syllable - the work aksara: that which does not decay." - pg 540;<br />
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Lastly, more than anything else this novel is about history. The title itself is a translation of the Sanskrit word iti-ha-asa. The reality is that there does not seem to be much awareness or interest in the study of history in our country. Often, what little knowledge there is of history is also quite skewed.<br />
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The following lines from the novel bemoan the same in the form of Gayatri Mann remembering Toby thus-<br />
"..His whole approach to things, to history, to memory, to place, to civilization: it was of another time. He used to think people couldn't do without an idea of their past, without an idea of who and what they were.<br />
That perhaps people can get by with a lot less than we thought. That perhaps this thin overlay of global culture, a few malls, a few movies, a mobile phone or two, is more than enough for most people. Enough to get them through.. - pg 510<br />
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Taseer quotes Coatzee to make the point that a historical understanding must, in the end, be an understanding of the past as a shaping force upon the present. - pg 339<br />
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Again, the need for history is reiterated by the following quote from V S Naipaul- "Men need history. It helps them to have an idea of who they are. But history, like sanctity, can reside in the heart; it is enough that there is something there" - pg 550<br />
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For someone interested in contemporary writings on the recent past in India, a novel like The Way Things Were is definitely a good choice. The world of Sanskrit language, brought alive through the character of Toby and then his son Skanda, becomes a metaphor for the richness of the ancient culture and serves as a reminder that the things we truly ought to feel proud are often lost in the noise generated by the slogans of the new order.</div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-3791990635508569752015-05-06T05:09:00.002-07:002016-01-02T05:08:59.796-08:00Book: The Trial by Franz Kafka<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial" target="_blank">The Trial</a> is certainly one of the darkest novels I have read. A haunting account of a citizen's travails at the hands of an unjust government and its institutions. Hailed as one of the best novels of the twentieth century, this novel was completed exactly hundred years ago (1915), although published a few years later (1925) after the death of the author Franz Kafka.<br />
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Leaving aside the deeper philosophical concepts for which the novel is often cited, like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism" target="_blank">Absurdism</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism" target="_blank">Existentialism</a>, even to a lay reader the narrative raises questions about justice, violence, and authority. Through the story of a man unjustly persecuted, the novel provides a satirical, ironical view of the system.<br />
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There are several themes that run through the novel but the theme of justice and judgment particularly appealed to me. It is possible that some of the descriptions of the Court and related things could be metaphors for something other than law. Yet, you cannot but marvel at the eerie depiction of a modern citizen trapped in a bureaucracy controlled by shadowy procedures.<br />
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The events described unfold in a European city, a hundred years ago. The political system, the court system, it is all obviously different back then. Yet, what is universal is that 'law is an abstract thing' and 'the Court is the human embodiment' of the law. As a system run by human beings, law becomes subject to corruption. Kafka portrays that corruption of the courts quite brilliantly in Chapter 7. This definitely is the chapter that I liked best.<br />
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Here are some excerpts from the Chapter 7. In these sections, Titorelli the painter who has some inside connections with the courts, advises Joseph K. the novel's protagonist on the court proceedings-<br />
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"...There are three possibilities, that is, definite acquittal, ostensible acquittal, and indefinite postponement. Definite acquittal is, of course the best, but I haven't the slightest influence on that kind of verdict. As far as I know, there is no single person who could influence the verdict of definite acquittal. The only deciding factor seems to be the innocence of the accused..."(page 167)<br />
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" We must distinguish between two things: what is written in the Law, and what I have discovered through personal experience; you must not confuse the two. In the code of the Law, which admittedly I have not read, it is of course laid down on the one hand that the innocent shall be acquitted, but it is not stated on the other hand that the Judges are open to influence. Now, my experience is diametrically opposed to that. I have not met one case of definite acquittal, and I have met many cases of influential intervention..." (page 168)<br />
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"Ostensible acquittal and indefinite postponement" said the painter. "...the difference between them is that ostensible acquittal demands temporary concentration, while postponement taxes your strength less but means a steady strain. First, then, let us take ostensible acquittal. If you decide on that, I shall write down on a sheet of paper an affidavit of your innocence."<br />
"...it is not in the least certain that every Judge will believe me; some Judges, for instance will ask to see you in the person. And then I should have to take you with me to call on them. Though when that happens the battle is already half won, particularly as I should tell you beforehand, of course, exactly what line to take with each Judge."<br />
"...I shall then deliver it to the Judge who is actually conducting your trial. Possibly I may have secured his signature too, then everything will be settled fairly soon..." (page 172)<br />
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"...The Judge is covered by the guarantees of the other Judges subscribing to the affidavit, and so he can grant an acquittal with an easy mind, and though some formalities will remain to be settled, he will undoubtedly grant the acquittal to please me and his other friends.Then you can walk out of the Court a free man."<br />
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"...but only ostensibly free, or more exactly, provisionally free. For the Judges of the lowest grade, to whom my acquaintances belong, haven't the power to grant a final acquittal, that power is reserved for the highest Court of all, which is quite inaccessible to you, to me, and to all of us."<br />
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"...The great privilege, then, of absolving from guilt our Judges do not possess, but they do have the right to take the burden of the charge off your shoulders. That is to say, when you are acquitted in this fashion the charge is lifted from your shoulders for the time being, but it continues to hover above you and can, as soon as an order comes from on high, be laid upon you again."<br />
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"...In definite acquittal the documents relating to the case are said to be completely annulled, they simply vanish from sight, not only the charge but also the records of the case and even the acquittal are destroyed, everything is destroyed. That's not the case with ostensible acquittal. The documents remain as they were, except that the affidavit is added to them and a record of the acquittal and the grounds for granting it. The whole dossier continues to circulate, as the regular official routine demands, passing on to the higher Courts, being referred to the lower ones again, and thus swinging backwards and forwards with greater or smaller oscillations, longer or shorter delays. These peregrinations are incalculable."<br />
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"...No document is ever lost, the Court never forgets anything. One day - quite unexpectedly - some Judge will take up the documents and look at them attentively, recognize that in this case the charge is still valid, and order an immediate arrest. I have been speaking on the assumption that a long time elapses between the ostensible acquittal and the new arrest; that is possible and I have known of such cases, but it is just possible for the acquitted man to go straight home from the Court and find officers already waiting to arrest him again. Then, of course, all his freedom is at an end."<br />
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"The case begins all over again, but again it is possible, just as before, to secure an ostensible acquittal. One must again apply all one's energies to the case and never give in." (pages 173-174)<br />
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"Ostensible acquittal doesn't seem to appeal to you, said the painter. Perhaps postponement would suit you better..." (page 175)<br />
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"Postponement consists in preventing the case from ever getting any further than its first stages. To achieve that it is necessary for the accused and his agent, but more particularly his agent, to remain continuously in personal touch with the Court. Let me point out again that this does not demand such intense concentration of one's energies as an ostensible acquittal, yet on the other hand it does require far greater vigilance. You daren't let the case out of your sight, you visit the Judge at regular intervals as well as in emergencies and must do all that is in your power to keep him friendly; if you don't know the Judge personally, then you must try to influence him through the other Judges whom you do know, but without giving up your efforts to secure a personal interview. If you neglect none of these things, then you can assume with fair certainty that the case will never pass beyond its first stages. Not that the proceedings are quashed, but the accused is almost as likely to escape sentence as if he were free. As against ostensible acquittal postponement has this advantage, that the future of the accused is less uncertain, he is secured from the terrors of sudden arrest and doesn't need to undergo - perhaps at a most inconvenient moment - the strain and agitation which are inevitable in the achievement of ostensible acquittal. Though, postponement, too, has certain drawbacks for the accused, and these must not be minimized. In saying this I am not thinking of the fact that the accused is never free; he isn't free either in any real sense, after the ostensible acquittal. There are the other drawbacks. The case can't be held up indefinitely without at least some plausible grounds being provided. So as a matter of form a certain activity must be shown from time to time, various measured have to be taken, the accused is questioned, evidence is collected, and so on. For the case must be kept going all the time, although only in the small circle to which it has been artificially restricted. This naturally involves the accused in occasional unpleasantness, but you must not think of it as being too unpleasant. For it's all a formality, the interrogations, for instance, are only short ones; if you have neither the time nor the inclination to go, you can excuse yourself; with some Judges you can even plan your interviews a long time ahead, all that it amounts to is a formal recognition of your status as an accused man by regular appearances before your Judge." (pages 175-177)<br />
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The novel is available online for free at the following site-<br />
<a href="http://www.online-literature.com/franz-kafka/the-trial/" target="_blank">The Online Literature Library</a><br />
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Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-36840130422788965012015-03-29T07:30:00.003-07:002020-10-28T05:02:04.550-07:00Book: The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This collection of essays on Indian culture, history and identity was published ten years ago. I remember that at the time of its publication this book had received rave reviews. After purchasing this book I had put it in my bookshelf and forgotten all about it. Recently, while watching Amartya Sen on television, I remembered the book and took it out to read. Surprisingly for a book mostly on history, this one was engrossing.<br />
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As the author points out in the preface, the great diversity of our country makes any attempt at defining its culture, history or politics a very complicated task. A task that must involve considerable selection among the innumerable things that one can focus on. The author mentions that the focus on the argumentative tradition in this work is also a result of a choice.<br />
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The long history of the argumentative tradition in India, its contemporary relevance, and its relative neglect in ongoing cultural discussions are cited by the author as the reasons for selecting this as the focus for this work.<br />
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The book is divided into four parts. The essays in "Part I : Voice and Heterodoxy" outline the nature, reach and relevance of the argumentative tradition in India. "Part II : Culture and Communication" contains essays on the role of communication in the development and understanding of cultures. Insights on the subject from the works of the poet and writer Rabindranth Tagore, and the film director Satyajit Ray are provided in this part. "Part III : Politics and Protest" contains essays on the politics of deprivation and the precariousness of human security in the subcontinent. "Part IV: Reason and Identity" contains essays about the role of reasoning in the identity of Indians.<br />
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At a time when any talk on culture and history often turns shrill, where propaganda takes the place of facts, it is crucial that for answers we turn to people with proven credentials and scholarship . With decades of scholarship and rigorous academic research to support him, Amartya Sen makes very convincing arguments. Respecting the very 'tradition of arguments' in our culture that he painstakingly elaborates throughout the book, we ought to pay attention to the cogent case that he presents.<br />
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The essays are written in such clear, convincing and readable manner that they don't demand any great scholarship from the reader to understand. He raises such fundamental and relevant questions that you pause in your reading to ponder over them. For anyone interested in getting a better understanding of our very ancient and diverse history, this book can be a great source.<br />
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Reading 'The Argumentative Indian' makes one feel less proud about some things about current politics, and proud about some things from the past that one has generally been ignorant about.<br />
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I have listed some observations and arguments in the book on certain topics that I found to be incisive.<br />
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<b>On the relevance of the dialogic tradition</b> -<br />
"Discussions and arguments are critically important for democracy and public reasoning. They are central to the practice of secularism and for even-handed treatment of adherents of different religious faiths (including those who have no religious beliefs)."(Preface - page xiii)<br />
"The nature and strength of the dialogic tradition in India is sometimes ignored because of the much championed belief that India is the land of religious, the country of uncritical faiths and unquestioned practices. "(Preface - page xiii-xiv)<br />
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<b>On the importance of an understanding of Indian heterodoxy</b>-<br />
"This is especially critical because of the relative neglect of the rationalist parts of the Indian heritage in the contemporary accounts of India's past, in favor of concentrating on India's impressive religiosity. That selective attention has, in fact, produced a substantial bias in the interpretation of Indian thought, and through that in the understanding of the intellectual heritage of contemporary India." (Part I, Essay 1 - page 25)<br />
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Amartya Sen's grandfather Kshiti Mohan, in his book called <i>Hinduism</i>, <b>on liberality being part and parcel of the basic Hindu approach</b>-<br />
"Hinduism also points out that a difference of metaphysical doctrine need not prevent the development of an accepted basic code of conduct. The important thing about a man is his <i>dharma</i> [roughly, the personal basis of behaviour], not necessarily his religion."<br />
Amartya Sen's comment-<br />
"That pride in liberality and tolerance contrasts rather sharply with the belligerently sectarian interpretation of Hinduism which is now becoming common through its politicization." (Part I, Essay 3 - page 46)<br />
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<b>On Hindus and Muslims in History</b>-<br />
"The main political moves to undermine Indian secularism have tended to focus, not on discussing the broad current of India's social, cultural or intellectual history, but rather on arbitrarily highlighting specially chosen episodes or anecdotes of Muslim maltreatment of Hindus evidently aimed at generating the anti-Muslim and anti-secular sentiments." (Part I, Essay 3 - page 58)<br />
"The history of India does indeed contain many nightmarish elements, but it also includes conversations and discussions, and extensive joint efforts in literature, <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/music___hindustani_ragas" target="_blank">music</a>, painting, architecture, jurisprudence and a great many other creative activities." (Part I, Essay 3 - page 59)<br />
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<b>On Inventing the Past</b>-<br />
"The redrawing of India's history using the Hindutva lens suffers from some deep empirical problems as well as conceptual tensions." (Part I, Essay 3 - page 65)<br />
"The problem starts with the account of the very beginning of India's history. The 'Indus valley civilization', dating from the third millennium BCE, flourished well before the timing of the earliest Hindu literature, the Vedas, which are typically dated in the middle of the second millennium BCE."<br />
"Furthermore, there is a second challenge associated with India's ancient past, which relates to the arrival of the Indo-Europeans (some times called Aryans) from the West, most likely in the second millennium BCE."<br />
"The Hindutva view of history, which traces the origin of the Indian civilization to the Vedas has, therefore, the double 'difficulty' of (1) having to accept that the foundational basis of Hindu culture came originally from outside India, and (2) being unable to place Hinduism at the beginning of Indian cultural history and its urban heritage." (Part I, Essay 3 - page 66)<br />
"The achievements that are linked to Buddhism include not just the focus on public reasoning and printing, but also accomplishments in mathematics, astronomy, literature, painting, sculpture and even in the presence of public health care."(Part I, Essay 4 - page 82)<br />
"One of the sad features of a narrowly Hinduized view of India's past is that the justifiable pride Indians can take in the achievements of non-Hindu as well as Hindu accomplishments in India is drowned in the sectarianism of seeing India as mainly a vehicle for Hindu thought and practice." (Part I, Essay 4 - page 83)<br />
"The openness of the argumentative tradition militates not only against exclusionary narrowness within the country, but also against cultivated ignorance of the well-frog. We need not agree to be incarcerated in the dinginess of a much diminished India, no matter how hard the political advocates of smallness try to jostle us. There are serious choices to be made." (Part I, Essay 4 - page 86)<br />
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<b>On Western Approaches to India: Three Categories</b>-<br />
"Attempts from outside India to understand and interpret the country's traditions can be put into at least three distinct categories, which I shall call <i>exoticist</i> approaches, <i>magisterial</i> approaches and <i>curatorial</i> approaches.<br />
The first (exoticist) category concentrates on the wondrous aspects of India. The focus here is on what is different, what is strange in the country that, as Hegel put it, "has existed for millennia in the imagination of the Europeans."<br />
The second (magisterial) category strongly relates to the exercise of imperial power and sees India as subject territory from the point of view of its British governors.<br />
The third (curatorial) category is the most catholic of the three and includes various attempts at noting, classifying and exhibiting diverse aspects of Indian culture. (Part II, Essay 7 - pages 141-142)<br />
"The nature of these slanted emphases has tended to undermine an adequately pluralist understanding of Indian intellectual traditions." (Part II, Essay 7 - page 159)<br />
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<b>On Poverty and Social Opportunity</b>-<br />
"The removal of poverty, particularly of extreme poverty, calls for more participatory growth on a wide basis, which is not easy to achieve across the barriers of illiteracy, ill health, uncompleted land reforms and other sources of severe societal inequality. The process of economic advance cannot be divorced from the cultivation and enhancement of social opportunities over a broad front." (Part III, Essay 9 - pages 197-198)<br />
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<b>On Cultural Contentions</b>-<br />
"The issue of cultural disharmony is very much alive in many cultural and political investigations, which often sound as if they are reports from battle fronts, written by war correspondents with divergent loyalties: we hear of the 'clash of civilizations', the need to 'fight' Western cultural imperialism, the irresistible victory of 'Asian values', the challenge to Western civilization posed by the militancy of other cultures and so on. The global confrontations have their reflections within the national frontiers as well, since most societies now have diverse cultures, which can appear to some to be very threatening." (Part IV, Essay 13 - page 281)<br />
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<b>On Tolerance and Reason</b>-<br />
"It is worth recalling that in Akbar's pronouncements of four hundred years ago on the need for religious neutrality on the part of the state, we can identify the foundations of a non-denominational, secular state which was yet to be born in India or for that matter anywhere else." (Part IV, Essay 13 - page 287)<br />
"Indian secularism, which was strongly championed in the twentieth century by Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore and others, is often taken to be something of a reflection of Western ideas (despite the fact that Britain is a somewhat unlikely choice as a spearhead of secularism). In contrast, there are good reasons to link this aspect of modern India, including its constitutional secularism and judicially guaranteed multiculturalism, to earlier Indian writings and particularly to the ideas of this Muslim emperor of four hundred years ago." (Part IV, Essay 13 - page 288)<br />
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<b>On the 'Cultural' Critique</b>-<br />
"Even if it were right to see Indian culture as quintessentially Hindu culture, it would be very odd to alienate, on that ground, the right to equal political and legal treatment of minorities." (Part IV, Essay 14 - page 315)<br />
"The cultural inheritance of contemporary India combines Islamic influences with Hindu and other traditions, and the results of the interaction between members of different religious communities can be seen plentifully in literature, <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/music___hindustani_ragas" target="_blank">music</a>, painting, architecture and many other fields." (Part IV, Essay 14 - page 315)<br />
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Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-48582922141484144162015-01-01T10:52:00.001-08:002016-01-02T05:06:46.934-08:00Book: Netherland by Joseph O'Neill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Published in 2008 and long-listed for the Man Booker prize that year, this novel by Joseph O’ Neill did create a buzz at that time. The Booker that year was won by the Indian author Aravinda Adiga for his debut novel <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___indian_writing/" target="_blank">The White Tiger</a>. I read The White Tiger soon after that novel came out but somehow could get hold of the<a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___novels_plays" target="_blank"> Netherland</a> only now after six years. <br />
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Netherland ticks many of the traits that I like in <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___novels_plays" target="_blank">novels</a>. I like a multi-layered plot compared to a simple and direct one. In this novel the plot operates at different layers. At one level it is about the immigrant experience of belonging and non belonging. At another level it is about a marriage that is going through a crisis. There is also the chronicling of the subtle psychological upheavals brought up by the developments of the day, including and not limited to the 9/11 event. The plot is sufficiently intricate to provide a great platform to the writing skills of the author. Skills that are evidently remarkable. The consistently engaging and admirably fluent writing is one of the standout features of the novel.<br />
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Indeed one of the most remarkable things about reading fiction is the great facility it provides to inhabit the varied geographies and societies of the world, and to experience through the writer’s eyes all that those places offer. Written in a stream of consciousness style, the novel takes you to New York, London, Trinidad and to the Netherlands by turns. Joseph O’ Neill amazes with the smooth, vivid and evocative descriptions. Those familiar with New York must find the sections related to that place most familiar. Even for others it is not difficult to imagine the landscapes that the author so meticulously constructs with his descriptions.<br />
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There are also passages on the sport of cricket. The references undoubtedly appeal to any cricket aficionado. Well, the aspects about cricket in the novel in no way take anything away from the graceful, balanced, and reflective overall narrative. It is impossible not to be moved throughout by the lyrical and poised prose of the narrative.<br />
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There is also a rich bounty available to the <a href="http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.in/p/words.html" target="_blank">word hunter</a>. The prose abounds with words that entail you to look up the dictionary. There are some interesting references to etymologies of words too. For instance, it was useful to learn that the word ‘aftermath’ is derived from after+math(mown)- “grass which grows in meadows that have been mown”. And that the word ‘fathom’ is derived from a word that originally meant ‘the outstretched arms’. Some of the other words in the novel that impressed me are (click to find details about the word): <a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives/0907" target="_blank">syllogism</a>, <a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives/0499" target="_blank">promethean</a>, <a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/awadmail416.html" target="_blank">pluvial</a>, <a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/awadmail316.html" target="_blank">morganatic</a>, <a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives/0799" target="_blank">peroration</a>, <a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/awadmail350.html" target="_blank">lepidopterist</a>.<br />
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There are some observations the author makes that are incisive and unsettling. These are lines that made me catch my breath and read again. Sample these-<br />
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“Perhaps the relevant truth…is that we all find ourselves in temporal currents and that unless you’re paying attention you’ll discover, often too late, that an undertow of weeks or of years has pulled you deep into trouble.” - pg 61<br />
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“And after Mama’s cremation I could not rid myself of the notion that she had been placed in the furnace of memory even when alive and, by extension, that one’s dealings with other, ostensibly vital, at a certain point become dealings with the dead.” - pg 86<br />
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“We had plenty to feel smug about, if so inclined. Smugness, however, requires a certain reflectiveness, which requires perspective, which requires distance” - pg 89<br />
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“…trying to shrug off a sharp new sadness…the sadness produced when the mirroring world no longer offers a surface in which one may recognise one’s true likeness.” - pg 111<br />
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Also, there are passages that are sure to resonate with any true cricket lover-<br />
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“…it’s my belief that the communal, contractual phenomenon of New York cricket is underwritten, there where the print is finest, by the same agglomeration of unspeakable individual longings that underwrites cricket played anywhere - longings concerned with horizons and potentials sighted or hallucinated and in any event lost long ago, tantalisms that touch on the undoing of losses too private and reprehensible to be acknowledged to oneself, let alone to others. I cannot be the first to wonder if what we see, when we see men in white take to a cricket field, is men imagining an environment of justice.” - pg 116<br />
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“…conditions may be different from day to day and from ground to ground. Sydney Cricket Ground favours spin, Hedingly, in Leeds, seam bowling. This differentness is not only a question of differing grass batting surfaces. There is the additional question of the varying atmospheric conditions - humidity and cloud cover, in particular - that obtain from time to time and from place to place and can dramatically affect what happens to a cricket ball as it travels from bowler to batsman.” - pg 143<br />
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All this may seem like a lot to say about a book that came six years ago. Somehow, the novel has left a strong impression and I wanted to share that with others. </div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-21547317916162932242014-09-30T07:10:00.000-07:002016-01-02T05:05:40.896-08:00Book: Adoor Gopalakrishnan - A Life in Cinema<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoor_Gopalakrishnan" target="_blank">Adoor Gopalakrishnan</a> - the name instantly brings to mind meaningful Malayalam films. The films by Adoor are very small in number, only eleven so far, but each one of those is like a milestone in the annals of good movies in our country. It is unlikely that any Indian with an interest in good cinema is unaware of the name of this director. Unfortunately, most of us only get to learn about the awards that Adoor's movies win but rarely get a chance to actually view these films. In my case too, except for a couple of his films (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swayamvaram" target="_blank">Swayamvaram</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anantaram" target="_blank">Anantaram</a>) that I watched in the Eighties, I was not much aware of his other films beyond their titles and knew even less about Adoor Gopalakrishnan as a person. This authorized biography of Adoor by Gautaman Bhaskaran came as a real boon to learn more about this amazing man and his craft.<br />
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As stated in the cover page, the book "traces the ebbs and flows of the life of this enigmatic director. From his birth during the Quit India movement to his lonely childhood at his uncle's house; from life at Gandhigram, where Adoor studied economics and politics, to his days and nights at the Pune Film Institute; and from his first film, Swayamvaram, to his latest, Oru Pennum Randaanum, the narrative tracks the twists and turns of Gopalakrishnan's life, finding an uncommon man and a rare auteur."<br />
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While providing the essential details on the life of the director the author has also provided great information on the creative process in the making of the films. There is a chapter in the book on each of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoor_Gopalakrishnan#Filmography" target="_blank">movies made by Gopalakrishnan</a>. The information provided is very helpful in putting the films in context in terms of the story and its relevance. The book also provides some interesting tidbits recounted from the making of the films. Given the understated, subtle, intricate, multi-layered nature of the films, it is good that Gautaman does not overly analyze the plots. Adoor acknowledges in the Foreword for the book, that Gautaman has done well in not trying to be analytical about the films. Adoor mentions that most of his films do not lend themselves to simple paraphrasing as their ambition extends beyond mere storytelling.<br />
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Swayamvaram (One's Own Choice) was Adoor's first film made in 1972. I recently watched this film again. This time I watched it on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAeIEVXI_aw" target="_blank">internet</a>. Even on the small screen what an experience it was!<br />
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Swayamwaram is a conventional narrative. Simple and straightforward. Nowhere in the film is there a dramatic exaggeration. Kerala of the 1970s flashes in front of your eyes, authentic in its sights and sounds. Synchronized sound and outdoor locales were used for filming this movie and apparently these were unheard of till then in Kerala.<br />
<br />
I am sure there have been many films of Swayamavaram's theme in different languages. The theme of a young couple defying society and eloping to live in a city and facing trials of life. The theme may have been the same but not many of those other films have had the same amount of sensitivity and subtlety.<br />
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From the opening scene of a long bus journey in Swayamvaram, to the last scene where the girl Sita is left with difficult choices, the film takes you through a slew of emotions. No melodrama, no long-drawn-out dialogs, and no overacting. That doesn't mean the film doesn't have it's lively moments. Everything flows so naturally. There is an interesting scene, where the protagonist Viswanathan asks for his salary at the tutorial where he works as a tutor. The principal of the tutorial, and his manager, instead of paying the salary, take Viswanathan to a bar and subject him to their drunken garrulity. The scene is hilarious and tragic. Even someone who doesn't understand the language can understand clearly what is happening.<br />
<br />
Talking about Swayamvaram, Gopalakrishnan says that Sita's dilemma reflected his own at that point in time. He says, "It was about my life, my choices...In this film, I was probing in different directions, trying to talk about many things, such as dream and reality, hope and disenchantment, the rot in society and so on."<br />
<br />
Throughout the book one gets to read about Adoor's invaluable insights on various aspects related to the making of great cinema. Sample these for a taste of his unique takes-<br />
<br />
On modeling some characters in his movies on some real-life characters from his life-<br />
"After all, your work is about yourself, your experiences, your problems, your dilemmas. What you want to tell others depends on your own likes and dislikes, your prejudices and tolerances. Often, you may not be conscious of them, but then that is the truth.’(pg 20)<br />
<br />
On the enormous possibilities that cinema offers-<br />
"As much as it offers, cinema also demands. It is a difficult mistress. There are a thousand ways camera lenses, for instance, can be used, but one must be able to make the right choices."<br />
<br />
"But lenses are only one part of filming. There is camera movement, composition of a shot or sequence, the role of colour and so on. The camera must move in a way that audiences should not notice it, and there has got to be a good reason for the camera to shift. One must choreograph it in such a way that viewers do not see the movement."<br />
<br />
"Audiences want to know what is happening in a character’s mind. They want to know how he or she is responding to a situation or development. So, you have to take these into account while filming a scene."<br />
<br />
"Cinema is demanding because it is not just photography. It is not just composition, it is not just colours, it is not even just technology. It is not just sound and effects. But much more than all these."<br />
<br />
Cinema is actually one’s experience. One’s vision of life. The film-maker’s. That is his cinema. This is why, I feel, cinema is so demanding that one cannot have one’s attention diverted or distracted." (pg 57)<br />
<br />
On the role of an actor in a film-<br />
"A film is not just an actor's performance. He is only one of the several elements. In fact, to a great extent, his presentation is a raw material. In the theatre, the role of an actor is important. He can improvise, and improve with each show. But in cinema his role is restricted. It can be altered, edited, abbreviated, extended, cut to pieces... anything can be done. He is not even playing directly to the audience. He has to perform to the satisfaction and fulfillment of the director's vision of the movie." (pg 95)<br />
<br />
On creativity-<br />
"Creativity defies simple definitions and explanations. It is common knowledge that a person without the faculty of memory is incapable of imagination and creativity. Memory is linked to experience. It is stored in images or ideas by combining previous experiences. Imagination is often regarded as the more seriously and deeply creative faculty, which perceives basic resemblances between things, as distinguished from fancy- the lighter and more decorative faculty, which just takes in superficial resemblances."<br />
<br />
"Experience is anything observed or lived through. It has many shades and grades. The most important is the individual reaction to things and events where one is directly involved.<br />
<br />
At another level, experience is borrowed through empathy. You make the other person’s experience your own in order to understand him and his predicament. A different shade of experience is the one that comes from the appreciation of arts, literature, theater, cinema etc… then, there is also the case of information as experience. Print and electronic media do provide daily information of life around us and elsewhere…<br />
<br />
These are what enrich one’s life. It is only such experiences that help a director make a movie that touches the heart and soul of an audience." (pg 145)<br />
<br />
It is very important that we stay attentive to a filmmaker like Adoor Gopalakrishnan who is among the most critically acclaimed directors after Satyajit Ray. His films surely achieve something more than mere storytelling.<br />
<br />
At a time when most of the commercial cinema is full of loud and boisterous characters, talking non-stop at high pitch, the space for meaningful cinema is diminishing. Good films hardly run for one or two weeks in our multiplexes.<br />
<br />
In our headlong rush to be amused and entertained by the 'masala' films, many of us have no patience for the good films made with low budgets. </div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-61558575442420467412014-08-29T08:06:00.002-07:002018-09-05T02:40:35.962-07:00Memory: The Library Class<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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During my <a href="http://srkvs.org/" target="_blank">high school</a> days, apart from the regular subjects
like the languages, science, mathematics, and social studies, we also had some
additional classes on subjects like moral science, physical education, and so
on. One such class was the library class. It was probably called that because
it was handled by the librarian. It was a class that was completely dedicated
to discussions on books. English books, novels in particular, were introduced
to us in this class. It was a wonderful escape to the world of imagination. </div>
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Our teacher, DNR, was definitely a fervent book lover. He
had a very efficient way of introducing a book. I can see him in my mind’s eye now, as he appeared in the
class, greying-haired, bespectacled figure moving around in front of the black
board. He would start a session by first listing on the blackboard, with a neat hand, the main characters from the book he had chosen for the day.
Sometimes, if a break preceded the library class, this story outlining on the
blackboard would start even before all the students were seated in the class.</div>
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Later on, I have gone on to read some of the books that DNR introduced in those classes. <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___novels_plays/" target="_blank">Novels</a> like The Lost Horizon by James Hilton, The
Airport by Arthur Hailey, a crime thriller titled Not Safe To Be Free by James
Hadley Chase, and so on. Each one of those books has left an impression on me,
not least because I first heard about them at an impressionable age. The love
of books and reading was in me from an early age. The world of English fiction
was introduced to me by DNR, and his library class. The selection of the
books was also appropriate, as these were stories that could
really hold the attention of a high school student. It was obvious
that he loved these books. The class listened to
him with rapt attention. The stories transported us into another world for the
duration.</div>
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The books introduced in these classes were mostly from the
genre of general fiction and <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___thrillers/" target="_blank">thrillers</a> and not the <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___old_classics/" target="_blank">classics</a> of literature. I
think this was a good approach. As we were for the first time getting
introduced to the joys of reading, light and entertaining kind of books kept us
interested. Obviously, as one gets deeper into the world of books, the
magnificent range and variety of reading material presents itself.</div>
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Later on, once out of high school, as I got more into the reading habit, I moved from the thrillers genre onto the classic genre. In spite of
not always being very accessible and easy in terms of readability, the
classics have offered me a great reading experience nevertheless. When I look back on my
reading choices over the years, I find that my <a href="http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.in/p/my-book-lists.html" target="_blank">list</a> of books includes books from different genres, including a fair number of
classics too. In a way though, it all started with the library class.</div>
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These days we often hear discussions regarding the
importance and relevance of fiction. Internet is making information far more
easily accessible but it is also resulting in changes in the way we read.
The amount of reading has increased as a result of text-messaging, browsing and
so on, but the traditional way of reading books has decreased. Internet has
certainly increased the efficiency in generating and distributing information.
The question though still remains regarding the impact on the state of reading fiction.</div>
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So, why do we need fiction? The answer for that question can
never be universal. It is like asking why do we live. For one, maybe it is just the love of a good story. There have been hundreds of witty answers to the question on
reading. I liked this anonymous quote- “Anyone who says they have only one life
to live must not know how to read a book.” And this one from Gustave Flaubert,-
“Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the
purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.”</div>
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I do want to believe in literature and its
possibilities. </div>
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DNR and his library class definitely helped in instilling
the curiosity and enthusiasm for literature. Years later, I had a chance to meet
DNR again. In 2010, I was back in my school for a reunion and he had come there
too. Now, completely grey haired and long retired, he looked older. I went up
to him and introduced myself. He seemed to recognize me but not distinctly. I
told him how much I used to like his library class and mentioned some books
that he had covered. I think he was pleased that I could remember some of the
books he had introduced to us.</div>
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More on my favorite books here-</div>
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<a href="http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.in/p/my-book-lists.html" target="_blank">My Books Page</a></div>
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Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-73979967863343791712014-04-22T20:30:00.000-07:002018-09-05T02:41:32.971-07:00Book: Living to Tell the Tale - Marquez autobiography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it" writes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Garc%C3%ADa_M%C3%A1rquez" target="_blank">Gabriel Garcia Marquez</a> in his memoirs titled Living to Tell the Tale.<br />
<br />
The sad news of the demise of this wonderful writer came last Friday while I was still midway through reading his amazing memoirs written twelve years ago. The book had been my constant companion for a few days during my commutes to work and the news of his departure made me sit through and complete it during the weekend. A kind of silent last respects to an author who had a tremendous influence on the way I look at literature itself.<br />
<br />
It was in the Eighties that I first read about this master storyteller in an editorial written by the kannada writer-journalist P. Lankesh, in his influential weekly journal Lankesh Patrike. Marquez's novel Love in the Time of Cholera had been published around that time and Lankesh had written about the poeticisation of old age and love in that novel.<br />
<br />
The first Marquez book I read was around the late Nineties and the book was his Nobel prize winning novel <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude" target="_blank">One Hundred Years of Solitude</a>. Looking back now, after more than fifteen years, I can only vaguely remember the story. It was not one of the regular novels with a regular storyline. It was something altogether different. What I remember clearly to this day is the absolute spell that the story had cast on me. A sense of desolation, gloom, and melancholy. The sheer power of words to create an atmosphere! <br />
<br />
Sample this: “Then, for more than ten days, they did not see the sun again. The ground became soft and damp, like volcanic ash, and the vegetation was thicker and thicker, and the cries of the birds and the uproar of the monkeys became more and more remote, and the world became eternally sad. The men on the expedition felt overwhelmed by their most ancient memories in that paradise of dampness and silence, going back to before original sin, as their boots sank into pools of steaming oil and their machetes destroyed bloody lilies and golden salamanders.”<br />
<br />
A story of seven generations, set in a fictional town of Macondo, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude" target="_blank">One Hundred Years of Solitude</a> was first published in 1967. The book has been subsequently translated into thirty seven languages, selling more than thirty million copies. Marquez employs the device of magic realism, where the supernatural and the mundane combine to express reality. Like all great works of art, this novel works on so many levels. <br />
<br />
The next Marquez novel I read was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_in_the_Time_of_Cholera" target="_blank">Love in the Time of Cholera</a>. I consider it a great sentimental story about the enduring power of love. Albeit that there are critics who mock at such an opinion on the book as being too simple.Marquez himself is believed to have said in an interview about this book - 'you have to be careful not to fall into my trap'. Well, it's a matter of looking at excessive romantic love as either "ideal" or "depraved". The plot contains elements that make either of the judgments possible.<br />
<br />
Take a look at the paragraph from the novel- “To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.”<br />
<br />
The next Marquez book I read was the novella <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Love_and_Other_Demons" target="_blank">Of Love and Other Demons</a>. A short, charming book, again on the topic of love. If in the previous novel Marquez alludes to the metaphor of love as a disease, in this one he goes one step ahead and alludes to love as madness! With his magical skills with words the author manages in this novella to turn what was essentially a journalistic assignment into a beautiful love story.<br />
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The last Marquez book I read before reading his memoirs was nearly ten years ago and it was titled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_General_in_His_Labyrinth" target="_blank">The General in His Labyrinth</a>. This book is based on the real-life story of Simon Bolivar, the extraordinary South American general. There are fictionalized elements in the book- some dealing with Bolivar's intimate moments. Considering that the book is almost a non-fiction, related to a part of South American history, there can be no better way to learn that bit of history than through an author like Marquez.<br />
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I had been aware of the publication of Marquez's memoirs <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_to_Tell_the_Tale" target="_blank">Living to Tell the Tale</a> and the book was on my wish list for some time now. <br />
<br />
Living to Tell the Tale exceeded my expectations. This was to be the first of the three parts of his memoirs, and the book tells the story of his life from 1927 to mid-1950s. Unfortunately, the first part is all we are going to have. Just as the <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___biography_autobiography/" target="_blank">auto-biography</a> of M K Gandhi that covers only the early part of his life, Gabriel Marquez's auto-biography too is going to be only about the early part of his life.<br />
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As you go through the pages, you realize that right from his childhood Marquez had both a talent and an inclination to tell a story. For those who have read his novels, there is a lot of interesting material available in these memoirs about some of the influences and experiences shaping the novels. It is amazing how he has dipped into his own experiences and incidents from his life to weave masterful tales that have so profoundly influenced so many readers.<br />
<br />
Some of the observations in this lucid narration are so memorable that you stop and reread the lines. Here are some such instances:<br />
<br />
On his decision to be a writer-<br />
"But the doctor thought this was splendid proof of an overwhelming vocation: the only force capable of competing with the power of love. And more than any other the artistic vocation, the most mysterious of all, to which one devotes one's entire life without expecting anything in return." (pg 30)<br />
<br />
On his grandparents (brought to me memories of my own maternal grandparents)-<br />
"The impression I have today is that the house and everything in it existed only for him, for it was an exemplary machista marriage in a matriarchal society, in which the man is absolute king of his house but the one who rules is his wife. In short, he was the macho. That is: in private a man of exquisite tenderness that he was ashamed of in public, while his wife burned to make him happy." (pg 80)<br />
<br />
On the decision to write his first novel-<br />
" I imposed it on myself like a vow made in war: I would write it or die. Or as Rilke had said: " If you think you are capable of living without writing, do not write." (pg 98)<br />
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On his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barranquilla_Group" target="_blank">Barranquilla group</a>-<br />
"But I believe without any doubt at all that our greatest good fortune was that even in the most extreme difficulties we might lose our patience but never our sense of humor." (pg 106)<br />
<br />
On boarding school (absolutely loved Gabriel Marquez for this!)-<br />
"Dawns in the dormitory had a suspicious resemblance to happiness, except for the lethal bell that sounded alarm- as we used to say- at six in the middle of the night. Only two or three mental defectives would jump out of bed to be first in line for the six showers of icy water in the dormitory bathroom. The rest of us used the time to squeeze out the last drops of sleep until the teacher on duty walked the length of the room pulling the blankets off the sleepers..." (pg 194)<br />
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On Arabian Nights-<br />
" Today, as I review my life, I remember that my conception of the story was elementary despite the many I had read since I was astonished by <i>The Thousand and One Nights</i>. I even dared to think that the marvels recounted by Scheherazade really happened in the daily life of her time, and stopped happening because of the incredulity and realistic cowardice of subsequent generations. By the same token, it seemed impossible that anyone from our time would ever believe again that you could fly over cities and mountains on a carpet, or that a slave from Cartagena de Indias would live for two hundred years in a bottle as a punishment, unless the author of the story could make his readers believe it." (pag 220)<br />
<br />
On parental pressure-<br />
"They judged me by my grades, year after year my parents were proud of the results, they believed I was not only an irreproachable student but also an exemplary friend, the most intelligent and brightest boy, and the one most famous for his congeniality. Or, as my grandmother would say: "The perfect kid."<br />
"...the truth was just the opposite. I seemed to be that way because I did not have the courage and sense of independence of my brother Luis Enrique, who did only what he wanted to do. And who without a doubt would achieve a happiness that is not what one desires for one's children but is what allows them to survive the immoderate affections, the irrational fears, and the joyful expectations of their parents." (pg 237)<br />
<br />
On Franz Kafka's <i>The Metamorphosis</i>-<br />
"These were mysterious books whose dangerous precipices were not only different from but often contrary to everything I had known until then. It was not necessary to demonstrate facts: it was enough for the author to have written something for it to be true, with no proof other than the power of his talent and the authority of his voice. It was Scheherazade all over again, not in her millenary world where everything was possible but in another irreparable world where everything had already been lost." (pg 247-48)<br />
<br />
Praise for Marquez's story published in <i>El Espectador</i>-<br />
"In the imagination everything can happen, but knowing how to show with naturalness, simplicity, and without fuss the pearl produced there is not something that all twenty-year-old boys just beginning their relationship with letters can accomplish." (pg 251)<br />
<br />
On his failed attempt at crime reporting at <i>El Espectador-</i><br />
<i>"...</i>crime reporting, so well established among readers, was a difficult specialization that required a certain kind of character and an impregnable heart. I never attempted it again." (pg 436)<br />
<br />
It is not hard to imagine Marquez failing at crime reporting. This master storyteller is a softie. The one quality to me that stands out in his writings is the unmistakable humanity, the heart, and the feeling. <br />
<br />
So much is written about the device of magic realism he employs in his works. I think it is the grace and intensity in every sentence that he writes that makes it possible for him to effortlessly blend the everyday stuff with the miraculous. <br />
<br />
In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech Marquez sought to draw attention to the significance of his writing as something more than merely its literary expression.<br />
<br />
Here is what he said in that speech-<br />
"I dare to think that it is this outsized reality, and not just its literary expression, that has deserved the attention of the Swedish Academy of Letters. A reality not of paper, but one that lives within us and determines each instant of our countless daily deaths, and that nourishes a source of insatiable creativity, full of sorrow and beauty, of which this roving and nostalgic Colombian is but one cipher more, singled out by fortune. Poets and beggars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that unbridled reality, we have had to ask but little of imagination, for our crucial problem has been a lack of conventional means to render our lives believable. This, my friends, is the crux of our solitude." </div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-90557582228509418042014-03-17T11:23:00.001-07:002016-01-02T05:02:15.300-08:00Book: Losing My Religion by Vishwas Mudagal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A friend suggested this book to me and also informed me that the author is related to someone I know. The mostly positive reviews on the book too raised my expectation. The <a href="http://justbooksclc.com/" target="_blank">Just Books</a> outlet in my area had several copies of the book and I was all set...<br />
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At the outset the author informs you that the book is influenced by his own experiences, the people he has met, and the places he has traveled to. Starting with the dedication page and through the first chapter you encounter corporate jargon like "kicking a**", "ruling the world" and so on. The author being an entrepreneur himself, the unabashed praise and paeans to the creed of entrepreneurs strikes you as rather brash. <br />
<br />
The story starts with the protagonist Rishi going through a personal crisis. The predicament of Rishi is all too familiar for people connected to the IT industry. A young guy is brimming with ideas to take his gaming related software business to a new level but does not find support with the investors. A classic case of someone believing strongly in something and getting disillusioned when others do not see it the same way. He is forced to close his business. Well, he does get an offer to work with another organization. He views that as a compromise and doesn't want to take the offer. He chucks it all and goes on an unplanned trip around the country. On the way he meets an American traveler Alex, and later a bold and beautiful girl Kyra. The story keeps taking wild turns and calls for some suspension of disbelief from the reader.<br />
<br />
For someone smitten by the written word, there are so many <a href="http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.in/p/my-book-lists.html" target="_blank">genres</a> of books to feast on. Where does Losing My Religion fit in? In the pulp fiction genre. With the likes of Sidney Sheldon, Geoffrey Archer and so on. While reading Losing My Religion, a couple of books I read long ago did cross my mind. Books like Sheldon's If Tomorrow Comes, and Archer's Not A Penny More Not A Penny Less. The thrill-a-minute nature of story telling. Well, Vishwas Mudagal still has some way to go before he can be compared to those two prolific weavers of improbable tales.<br />
<br />
The way I see it, underneath all the breathtaking non stop action, the story is really about the present day pressures of the urban life and about the choices before the youth. About a choice between security and freedom. About conforming and non-conforming to society's expectations of you. <br />
<br />
At the end of the book there is a section on some personal information on the author where it says that his favorite fictional character is Howard Roarke, the protagonist in Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead. In the way that Rishi reacts at the loss of his enterprise, you see shades of Roarke. A desire to behave in ways that are contrary to a rational understanding. Rishi discards the potentially promising career path and chooses to go looking for new frontiers, new adventures and new places. <br />
<br />
Why do I think that the book also says something about the choice between security and freedom? In the first few pages, the author effectively captures the modern day issues faced by the urban young,- like career dissatisfaction, feeling of suffocation, effect of stress on relationships and so on. These are true for a lot of folks just as they happen with Rishi and his buddies. There is often a feeling that one is living someone else’s idea of how to live. <br />
<br />
We must remember though that people do not live in a vacuum, and in most cases one's actions and attitudes are interconnected with others, importantly their families. An option to simply go away when things go wrong, like Rishi Rai, does not exist for most. Interestingly, in the story there is no mention of a family connected with Rishi. There is only an ex-girlfriend and another casual friend in his life, and Rishi is free as an Arab to do just as he pleases.<br />
<br />
Most people hanging on to the security of a job, driven by deadlines, product release dates, fiscal year ends and so on, can experience the joy of an idiosyncratic and rebellious behavior only in a second-hand way. Through fictional characters like a Rishi Rai in LMR, or a Rancho in 3 Idiots. Probably that explains why that movie and this book have captured the popular imagination so much.<br />
<br />
Through the character of Rishi, the author demonstrates an ideal entrepreneur's persona. We see how a true entrepreneur needs to keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive at all times. What the story also makes clear is that a true entrepreneur needs to possess a capacity to cope with insecurity and uncertainty. That is perhaps the price to pay to lead a life of freedom.<br />
<br />
It is nice to see that a new book from an <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___indian_writing/" target="_blank">Indian writer</a>, with a contemporary theme is attracting a lot of readers. <br />
<br />
My Books page has information on the books I have read-<br />
<a href="http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.in/p/my-book-lists.html">http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.in/p/my-book-lists.html</a></div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-89879273862087385632013-12-14T22:00:00.000-08:002018-09-05T02:42:01.753-07:00Travel: The Freedom of the Road<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Recently came across a book that had this rather alluring title,- <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/books___audio/" target="_blank">Repacking Your Bags: Lighten Your Load for the Good Life</a>. Probably it was one of those days when the routine just feels a little too tiresome, and one needs some words of inspiration and motivation. I decided to give this Repacking Your Bags a try and chose the audio book so that the long commute to work could be put to use to listen to it. The book turned out to be quite an interesting one. <br />
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This blog entry is not really about the book. It is about something I experienced last weekend that was in line with an idea in the book. The interesting last chapter of the book is titled The Freedom of the Road. Discussing the ever agonizing dilemma that most urban professionals face between security and freedom, the book presents these lines,- "We’re looking for a way to ensure that we don’t end up living someone else’s life. We’re looking for new frontiers, new adventures, new places where—at least for a little while—we can feel free." <br />
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With some happy coincidence, I got to experience precisely that during the last weekend. When things get a bit monotonous or tiring, one remedy that works for me is to get behind the wheel and drive all the way to Shiragalale, my village. It works like a balm. There is really a soothing, healing power in these road trips. The roads are in good condition these last few years and passing through the familiar yet seasonally changing environs never fails to bring restfulness and a certain calmness.<br />
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A friend accompanied me on the trip last weekend. Though we had hoped to hit the road with the sunrise on Saturday, the cold Bangalore night put paid to that idea and we could start only by 8 o'clock. Our intention in this trip was to not plan things in advance but to work it out as we went along. A good decision it was, in hindsight.<br />
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My usual route to my hometown NR Pura is Bangalore-Hassan-Chikmagalur-Balehonnur. Decided to take a detour this time to visit the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudremukh" target="_blank">Kuduremukha</a> National Park enroute. My friend, a nature-lover, was very much game for this. <br />
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<a href="http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/123824-renault-duster-official-review.html#post2847114" target="_blank">Duster</a> is such a joy to drive on a long journey. We had breakfast at Bellur and were back on the NH-48 towards Hassan. There are toll booths every few kilometers but the smoothness of the road is worth the toll collected. The highway by-passes Channarayapatna, and before you know it you are entering the land of our former prime minister.<br />
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From Hassan to Chikmagalur is also a very good road and you have many long straight stretches. It was while having lunch at The Planter's Court in Chikmagalur that the idea of visiting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudremukh" target="_blank">Kuduremukha</a> came to us. It had been many years since I had visited this place. After calling Shiragalale to inform my mother about the change of plans, we were on our way to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudremukh" target="_blank">Kuduremukha</a>.<br />
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As you drive past Chikmagalur, the route to Mudigere is a shady and pleasant drive through coffee plantations. The air is fresh, and the greenery is soothing to the city eyes fatigued by the computer monitors. Duster's run was quite assured in the twisties as well.<br />
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We pushed on, farther and farther away from the source of everyday anxieties of a city life, into the lap of nature. It was late afternoon by the time we passed Mudigere and were on our way towards Kottigehara. It is wooded almost throughout this stretch. At Kottigehara we turned right to enter the road to Kalasa which passes through several plantations. It is shaded almost throughout by the woods and at some places the road is not good. You do have some great views on this route. There is a nice waterfall too.<br />
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We stopped at some places to enjoy the view. During the monsoon months, these woods must look a shade greener. Still these sights were such a contrast to the concrete jungle that we live in and we filled them up into our eyes and into the eyes of our cameras for later viewing.<br />
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It was around 5.30 in the evening when we reached Kalasa and turned into the road leading to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudremukh#National_park" target="_blank">Kuduremukha National Park</a>. Our plan was to try and look for accommodation in Kuduremukha itself for the overnight stay, and to return to Kalasa if no accommodation was available. It was turning dark very fast as we drove up the hill towards the Kuduremukha town.<br />
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The last time I visited this town was several years ago and then it was a thriving mining town. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudremukh_Iron_Ore_Company_Ltd." target="_blank">Kuduremukha Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL)</a> held sway and the town looked thriving then. In the subsequent years there were protests by the environmentalists that the mining activity was causing a lot of ecological damage. The protests were led by a Bangalore based NGO called Wildlife First. In a historical judgement <a href="http://www.conservationindia.org/case-studies/the-kudremukh-saga-a-triumph-for-conservation-2" target="_blank">Supreme Court banned the mining operation</a> and ordered the ban to be carried out by 31st Dec 2005.<br />
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Coming back to the trip, - it was turning nearly dark when we reached the town. I was awestruck by the clear transformation of the town into a half deserted, desolate looking one. We came to know, that with a clear decision about the future course of the town still pending, there are only a few families still living here. On checking with someone taking an evening walk with his little daughter, we came to know about the possibility of finding accommodation for the night with the KIOCL guest house.<br />
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It appears that the guest house is handed over to some private management and is currently in the process of being refurbished. Our stay was comfortable.<br />
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Early next morning we went to the Range Forest Office to check on the possibility of a safari in the park. We were informed that the safari vehicle had not yet arrived and was expected to arrive in a few days. The folks at the office were gracious and organized for us to drive through the trail with a hired vehicle. What a drive it was!<br />
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Before the vehicle arrived to carry us on the safari, we drove along the Kalasa-Karkala road passing through the Kuduremukha range. You find some great views on this stretch.<br />
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About 9 kms from Kuduremukha is the Bhagavathi Nature Camp where we were scheduled to meet our vehicle for the safari. The trail we took started from the Ganapathi Katte - Singsar road. </div>
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It was an exciting drive and soon after we started on the trail, our driver pointed us to some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambar_Deer" target="_blank">Sambar deers</a> at a distance. We got to see several of them during the drive.</div>
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We drove through a narrow trail, quite steep at places, and reached the peak. The driver updated us a bit on the issues plaguing the place. There is always a human interest story behind all the major projects. Development is a necessary, and at times a pitiless phenomenon that puts down people happening to come in its way. How often we hear these stories of displaced people turning disappointed, distraught and finally desperate.</div>
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The view from the top is just awesome and makes you forget everything else. It is a surreal feeling to be watching mountains all around you in different shades of green. The stillness, the quiet, the blue sky, and the sheer majesty of the mountains is humbling. The healing therapeutic touch of nature can be felt. We definitely felt refreshed.</div>
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We spent some time taking the view in. I have been to the top of some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Ghats#Peaks" target="_blank">peaks</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Ghats" target="_blank">Western Ghats</a> in Karnataka before, like Mullayyangiri, Bababudangiri, Hebbe (this lies within my hometown). Still the Kuduremukha peak is special. Is it the recency effect? Not sure.</div>
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Soon it was time to get back to earth, and we started descending the mountain. We reached the Bhagavathi Nature Camp from where we had started and spent some time at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhadra_River" target="_blank">Bhadra</a> river adjacent to the camp. This river is significant to me as it also flows through my hometown and a dam built across this river in the 1950s changed the shape of my village and town forever.</div>
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In the late afternoon we started towards NR Pura. It is only a couple of hours from Kuduremukha and the route passes through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balehonnur" target="_blank">Balehonnur</a>. The new Balehonnur-NR Pura road, my home stretch, is very good now. In recent years it was done up as part of providing better connectivity to the Rambhapuri Mutt from Shimoga.</div>
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We reached Shiragalale by evening. The journey of about 400 kilometers had never seemed long at all. Instead, like always, the driving, the moving, had indeed taken me out of the state of mind I wanted to leave behind. </div>
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We started back to Bangalore on Monday afternoon.</div>
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Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-6922343720935922652013-10-27T09:00:00.001-07:002018-09-05T02:44:51.795-07:00Music: A Musical Weekend<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Culture is not just the spice; it is actually the oxygen. It is culture that really glues a civilization together" - Ravikiran, renowned Chitraveena maestro<br />
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The occasion was ArtInteract, a music conclave yesterday, where eight accomplished speakers shared their views on various
facets of the arts. This conclave was organized by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Indianmusicexperience" target="_blank">Centre for Indian Music Experience (IME)</a> at MLR Convention Centre, JP Nagar. Another program, a Jugalbandhi, featuring Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt (Mohan Veena) and Ravikiran (Chitraveena) was also organized in the evening at the same venue by IME. <br />
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These two programs were organized by IME to commemorate the occasion of the inauguration of their beautifully designed new building yesterday by the Chief Minister. <br />
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I attended both these wonderful programs. Just as the advertising slogan promised it really was A Musical Weekend I Wont Forget.<br />
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ArtInteract began with a terrific talk by Ravikiran. This talk had the quality and assurance of a <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks" target="_blank">TED talk</a>. I wish there were more folks to listen to this and get inspired about Indian musical heritage. I really liked it and thought of logging the important parts from the talk here in my blog. At the end of the program, Deepti Sudhindra from IME, who very ably compered the event, also did exhort the audience to spread the word.<br />
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Many years ago in Mysore, Ravikiran had visited my school <a href="http://www.srkvs.org/" target="_blank">Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashala</a> and had played his Gottuvadyam (Chitraveena). He was already making a name for himself even as a young artist. It was great to see the same musician again, who in the interim had become a world renowned musician. <br />
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Ravi Kiran spoke about the topic "The role of culture" and he started his talk by warmly commending IME for their efforts in the endeavor of bringing the experience of Indian music to the people of Bangalore.<br />
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Talking about the patterns in promotion of art and culture in our country, he sought to look at it as two streams. The structured and unstructured. Structured being the macro level promotion by the government, and the unstructured being the promotion by individual organizations like the Music Academy in Chennai, The National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai, the Sangeeth Research Academy in Culcatta, and now Bangalore's IME and so on. He said there has been an excellent support from the unstructured segment, that has resulted in several young talents emerging. He felt the media coverage for the promotion of art and culture needs to improve, though it is not bad in Chennai (through the Hindu), Bangalore, and Hyderabad.<br />
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In terms of structured promotion of art and music we need to really improve a lot, he felt. He regretted that among the millions of kids in our schools very few knew about stalwarts in the Carnatic music space like Purandhara Dasa, Thyagaraja, or Oothukaadu Venkata Kavi, and so on. <br />
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He referred to the European and American school systems, where there are school orchestras, at middle school and high school level, Jazz bands, marching bands and so on. He said they have concerts at least twice a year in schools, where students are trained in Symphony orchestras and exposed to the compositions from Western classical masters like Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and so on. <br />
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He said the classical and the contemporary go hand in hand in most countries. He said it was high time that we took every step at a macro level so that every Indian takes pride in their own country's heritage and culture, as that is what the rest of the world comes to us for. He drew attention to the fact that people from US, Europe, Australia, Africa come to India just to learn about our culture. <br />
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Stressing the need to have structured programs in our school level, he said, organizations like The Music Academy, IME and so on should lobby strongly with the government to have a structured program for the promotion of Indian art and music. He recalled meeting the Prime Minister in a delegation a few years ago and presenting a proposal for a syllabus to be adopted in government schools from class one to eight. He hoped that the government starts implementing that soon.<br />
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The other aspect Ravikiran touched upon in his talk was about the depiction of classical music in films. He said he finds it objectionable that some films try to make it fashionable to degrade our own culture. It never happens in contemporary movies in the west, he said. Even while depicting their contemporary music in their movies, they never undermine their classical music, he observed.<br />
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He said our image of ourselves seems to be a confused one and that we need to wake up from our image crisis. He stressed that music is universal and that we need to respect other forms of music. He recalled his collaborating with artists of other forms of music like pop, jazz, Chinese, Brazilian, African origins. Even while respecting the other forms of music, he reminded how important it is to take pride in your own form of music too.<br />
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He summarized his thought provoking message thus- <br />
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"Our classical culture is the product of the cumulative genius of thousands of brilliant people over several centuries. The people who made the system are brilliant minds, whichever yardstick you measure them with. With the objective experience of collaborating with different systems, I would say Carnatic music is easily the most complete melodic system in the world. It has melody, rhythm, lyrics in so many different languages. It has pure rhythmic improvisation, pure melodic improvisation. It has intellectual content, emotional content, spiritual content, and philosophical content. I would not say there is a parallel to this in such a systematic way. It is one of those systems that can easily be taught to any person in any part of the world with a rational mind. It is a very scientific system with a proper notation system. There is nothing vague about it. It has a systematic theory. Mathematical and scientific principles are involved in it. So it is something that we all need to be very proud of. <br />
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So also the Hindustani music. Even though there is a lot of Persian base, it is a fantastic hybrid of Indo-Persian values and Indo-Persian cultures. <br />
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We have dance systems here like Bharatanatyam and so on. <br />
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All these have been the product of so many centuries of evolution and an occasional revolution. We need to respect this a lot.<br />
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Indian Music Experience (IME) is providing us this kind of space to take things in perspective. We are going to have contemporary, classical folk, classical and other systems from all parts of our country and anybody who is going to be in touch with this institution is going to see how enriching it is to enjoy all these different art forms and go home enriched, entertained, educated, as well as elevated. "<br />
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Indeed, Ravikiran is not just a genius Chitraveena player. He is also a master communicator. I could not agree more with him about IME. As far as I am concerned, it certainly looks like the beginning of a long association with this beautiful centre that promises to bring more such unforgettable musical weekends.<br />
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Among the other talks, the one by Vasu Dikshit, Lead vocalist at the Indian Independent Music Band 'Swaratma', was very interesting too. Priyadarshini Govind, renowned Bharatanatyam dancer and the director of The Kalakshetra, Chennai, gave a brilliant talk on the role of music in dance. Her talk was accompanied by dance demonstrations by one of her disciples and by herself. The final speaker for the day Prakash Belavadi, Journalist and theater personality, also left the audience wanting for more. More on these other talks some other day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9l_QNd3GWkooKIURzKIlhxrrVzVSFN9XXuN_gdYVHqMoEGIwONmjHLuH1tciGUtWiyJtssWsNgWEaAj-_I8-fQ36vjgbI8tN2xhyphenhyphenos7-kuWJ_Bhs_6SjmxJ2D3PpIlgR8_w0Y9A/s1600/IME-Jugalbandhi-Poster_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9l_QNd3GWkooKIURzKIlhxrrVzVSFN9XXuN_gdYVHqMoEGIwONmjHLuH1tciGUtWiyJtssWsNgWEaAj-_I8-fQ36vjgbI8tN2xhyphenhyphenos7-kuWJ_Bhs_6SjmxJ2D3PpIlgR8_w0Y9A/s320/IME-Jugalbandhi-Poster_final.jpg" width="238" /></a>After listening to Ravikiran's talk in the morning I certainly did not want to miss his concert in the evening. It was a full house in the evening at the MLR Convention Centre. It was a memorable experience too. The sheer mastery he and the other artist Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt have over their musical instruments is really amazing.<br />
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I have compiled links to some articles on Ravikiran, published in the past in the Friday Review section of The Hindu. You can find these links in my <a href="https://rateyourmusic.com/list/srishir/music___carnatic_classical_instrumental" target="_blank">Carnatic instrumental albums list</a>. In this list, the Carnatic instrumental albums in my collection are listed in reverse chronological order of their release.<br />
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You will find my other music lists here-<br />
<a href="http://roots-n-wings.blogspot.in/p/my-music-lists.html" target="_blank">My Music Lists</a></div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-22584083634077877392013-05-29T10:51:00.000-07:002016-01-02T04:57:25.153-08:00Book: Smoke and Mirrors by Pallavi Aiyer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"The two countries were like mirror opposites of each other. One provided roads, schools and electricity but stifled diversity, criticism and participation; the other allowed diversity, criticism and participation, yet achieved little in improving livelihoods and providing economic opportunities." (page 234)<br />
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This is probably the view that most of us Indians already have about India and China. Pallavi Aiyer's book brings home this same fact in a much nuanced and yet poignant way. The perspective is entirely an Indian one. This trained journalist desists from making quick judgements about what she observes. The restraint and the wisdom show through in each and every page.<br />
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Smoke and Mirrors is a memoir, a travelogue and a political analysis all combined into one book. The political aspect holds much significance for us Indians. While India has experienced much success as a political democracy in the last six decades, it has also faced enormous challenges in becoming a social democracy. In the last two decades, economic growth has brought with it inequity and resentment in large sections of society in India. <br />
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While India talks about "inclusive growth" to achieve social stability, China even with its spectacular economic success has to safeguard political stability. China's arrangement certainly has worked well so far in terms of poverty reduction and brought in great material prosperity. But such prosperity has come at the cost of personal liberty for the people. <br />
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"China's economic achievement over the last thirty or so years may have been unparallelled historically, but so was India's political feat. Its democracy was almost unique amongst post-colonial states not simply for its existence but its existence against all odds in a country held together not by geography, language or ethnicity but by an idea." (page 242)<br />
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It is amazing how Pallavi Aiyer manages to find a way to be fair and loyal to both her native country and to the one that she has adopted for the period of five years. What impresses is not just her loyalty to the two countries but also the wise analysis she provides of the strengths and weaknesses of both the countries. In Chapter 12, titled 'Squaring the Circle and Coming Full Circle' the author provides a good perspective on the good and the bad from the two countries. <br />
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While she remarks that "maintaining a one-party system subject to the rule of the law was probably a project that would always remain incomplete" in China, she also points out that "India's democracy was far from being a fully actualized ideal".(page 256)<br />
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You can't help but nod in agreement when the author summarizes her impressions on the politics of the two countries thus- " democracy was often used as an excuse in India to justify bad governance, just as India's democracy was used as an excuse in China to carry on with its (relatively) efficient one-party dictatorship. India was the example of choice in China when it came to pointing out the pitfalls of democracy, while in India those who admired China's achievements simultaneously bemoaned the fact that they could come only at the cost of democracy." (page 257)<br />
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Well, the political angle apart, there is much in this book to ponder and wonder about. The author's experience as an English teacher, her life in a <em>hutong</em>, the trip to Lhasa, all these sections are delightful. Reading these sections certainly makes one wish to experience China. The language impediment that the author manages to overcome definitely is one herculean challenge for anyone wanting to take on the middle kingdom. One other thing to notice in the narration is the fact that curiosity in India about China is of a much higher order than in China about India.<br />
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At the end of reading this book, the perception about China is bound to change from one of 'smoke and mirrors' to a 'much clearer mirror reflection'.<br />
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Find more reviews for this book here-<br />
<a href="http://pallaviaiyar.com/reviews_smoke_and_mirrors" target="_blank">http://pallaviaiyar.com/reviews_smoke_and_mirrors</a></div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-48449776289161373142013-02-17T02:24:00.001-08:002016-01-02T04:55:14.483-08:00Book: A Girl And A River by Usha K.R.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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" How can you get so immersed in cooked up tales of fictitious people? How can you remove yourself from the real world so easily?" he asked her.<br />
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"On the contrary, it is the real world created differently. And people are the same everywhere. The things that happen to them in books, their thoughts, their feelings, everything seems so much more enjoyable and more real too because you are sitting in a chair and reading about them and they are the ones getting wet in the rain and having problems and..." she stopped, for she had been about to say 'falling in love".<br />
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"That's escapism..."<br />
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" No, it's another way of getting to know the world and yourself".<br />
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Thus goes a conversation (on page 213-214) between the hot-headed revolutionary Shyam, and Kaveri, the intelligent, sensitive, spirited heroine of this novel titled A Girl And A River. A novel that beautifully and poignantly captures life in a small town in Mysore during the 1930s and 1940s when the freedom struggle was reaching its crescendo.<br />
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There is a distinct charm in the narration of a story when a pair of lively and curious young siblings are added to the mix. A certain magic is apparent even in the everyday events when viewed through the inquisitive eyes of children. This is something that we experienced earlier in some very successful novels too. Who can forget the antics and travails of Rahel and Estha in <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9777.The_God_of_Small_Things">The God Of Small Things</a> by Arundhati Roy? Or the shenanigans of Scout and Jem in <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2657.To_Kill_a_Mockingbird">To Kill A Mockingbird</a> by Harper Lee.<br />
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Setu and Kaveri form the windows through which we get to view the life of the family of Mylaraiah, a prominent lawyer in the town. While the son Setu, like his father, unquestioningly accepts the British, the daughter Kaveri is influenced by the visit of Mahatma Gandhi to the town and finds it shameful to accept the foreign rule. Kaveri knows her own mind and in an attempt to chart her own course even defies her father to attend a Quit India march organized by Shyam. Things take a brutal turn when a police firing takes place...<br />
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The British rule of the country and the freedom struggle is something that the generations of us born after independence are only vaguely aware of. Our text books also sometimes leave us confused. History is a complex thing. People remember things differently. They remember things based on their own agendas, and forget some things. Eventually, all of it results in a concoction that we accept as our history. Well, we all know that there was the peaceful approach advocated by the Mahatma and the armed route propagated by Subhash Bose. These are historical facts we are all aware of. When the same facts are presented with a context and a setting, like it is done in this novel, we can better appreciate the distinctions between the two approaches.<br />
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We know that there were people in our midst who did support the British rule. It is interesting the way Mylaraiah defends the British (on page 37). "I'm happy to be a pillar in a system run by people like Judge Riley," Mylaraih said, "And there's no denying that whatever we have is thanks to them. Think of the chaos there'd be if we allowed our people to run things their way. Every man, right from the diwan to the petty clerk in the government office would be bringing his brother or his son through the back door...We'd endlessly be salaaming worthless people even to get what was due to us."<br />
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Again, see this (on page 49-50). "If the many , disparate, tightly wound communities, cocooned in their unchanging ways, suspicious of each other and quick to take offence, were the bones in the spine of the country, the British to Mylaraiah were the gel-filled discs that separated the bones, defining them, giving them space, the ease and the swing they required to live with each other. If the gel were to slip out of place, the body would be prostate and aflame with pain; it was so easy of their dissensions to lose all sense of proportion. People could be strange; the most docile and compliant of them could go berserk if given half a chance".<br />
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On the other hand, there was also Shyam, fiercely patriotic and a believer in violent struggle to dislodge the British. This is what he says, in his address to the Mahila Samaja (on page 206-207)- "Our young men are emasculated and our young women, too timid. We have lost the vital spirit of the youth, too fond of our food and drink, our unhampered routines, our clothes and jewellery, our meanigless entertainments, so much so that we want others to rule us, to think for us, to tell us which is our right hand and which is our left...we don't even mind being slaves so long as we are not disturbed from our state of rest."<br />
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While these paragraphs bring out the politics of the day, there are also parts in the book that capture the dynamics of the family and relationships of the day. It is interesting how Rukmini, the loyal wife to Mylaraiah, and the caring mother to Kaveri and Setu, reminisces on marriage (on page 63), - "They were like paper kites in the sky, women, Rukmini thought. How high they flew and how long they stayed up depended on the slack they got from the men who flew them. Sometimes, they might not get off the ground at all."<br />
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They are all strong women, - Kaveri, Rukmini, even Rukmini's mother Bhagiratamma. It is interesting what Bhagiratamma thinks about the wickedness of subtle, underhand women like her daughter-in-law, and the culpability of spineless men like her own son (on page 192), - "Better to do wrong, she said, than to do nothing, than to build an anthill of routine around yourself and hope that keeping yourself occupied from morning till night will make the things you didn't want to confront , disappear".<br />
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The novel alternates from the 1930s to 1980s. While the story starts unfolding in the 1930s, it is in the 1980s that Setu's daughter(who is also Kaveri's grand-daughter) tries to unravel some of the circumstances of the past in her family. She finds two books and a letter in a tea tin in the attic which finally lead her to some details about Kaveri. <br />
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A Girl And A River is a story that a lot of folks, especially us from the old Mysore region could, in a lot of ways, identify with. Many of the words and expressions in Kannada that are used in this novel bring to mind an old world that is fast fading into oblivion. The characters in the novel are sure to stay etched in our mind. Most of all, Kaveri, who inspite of her great spirit, and an indomitable verve becomes a double victim of the crossfires of the freedom stuggle and the social mores of the times. Another tragic figure, like the unforgettable Thomas Hardy character Tess in <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32261.Tess_of_the_d_Urbervilles">Tess of the d'Urbervilles</a>.<br />
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A preview of A River And A Girl is available at-<br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/cew494g">http://tinyurl.com/cew494g</a></div>
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Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-20636493719375656702012-12-22T05:08:00.001-08:002016-01-02T04:54:14.007-08:00Book: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This very popular book published in the year 2003 has been with me for sometime. I never got around to reading it. Recently when a friend was all praise for this book and called it a masterpiece, I decided that I must check it out. </div>
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The story is set in Afghanistan. Doesn't that country invoke a kind of natural curiosity in everyone? Narrated in the first person, the initial plot revolves around life in Afghanistan as seen through the eyes of a boy Amir, the son of a wealthy businessman. The friendship between Amir and Hassan, the son of a servant is an interesting one. Amir is the privileged and self-possessed one, while Hassan is the self-sacrifising and loyal friend. The undercurrents of customs, caste, class, and culture of Afghanistan are also well captured.</div>
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Then the Russian invasion takes place and the plot shifts to America, where Amir and his family take asylum. From here, the plot suffers somewhat and the events seem too contrived. The coincidences seem bewildering and these happen after Amir decides to return to Afghanistan to find redemption for his past deeds. </div>
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The book succeeds in conveying the sad plight of the millions of children caught in the tragedy that was the rule of the Taliban. Khaled Hosseini displays a strong narrative skill and makes the plot work to inform readers from all over the world about the destruction that a bunch of blind believers can wreak on an entire country and its <u>people</u>.</div>
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A preview of The Kite Runner is available at-<br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/Dqd1X">http://</a><a href="http://goo.gl/Dqd1X">goo.gl</a><a href="http://goo.gl/Dqd1X">/</a><a href="http://goo.gl/Dqd1X">Dqd1X</a></div>
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Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-91235673103586657162012-12-02T03:40:00.000-08:002016-01-02T04:53:24.666-08:00Book: Raga 'n Josh by Sheila Dhar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have always been curious about Indian classical music. Often wondered about this great legacy from our times past. I have received no training in this esoteric art to be able to completely appreciate it, but I have always had a healthy respect for this type of music and its practioners. After all, one can not ignore the fact that classical music is the result of hundreds of years of dedicated labors of so many practitioners. In essence, classical music has come to mean excellence in music.<br />
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Before the advent of the omnipresent television channels, when All India Radio ruled the roost, Hindustani or Carnatic music was what they usaully broadcast towards the end of their morning programs. The start of the alaap would usually be the signal to most people to turn off the radio sets. <br />
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After listening to light, popular kind of music for years, only in recent years I have opened my ears to the classical music. The experience has been sort of cathartic! Almost everyday these days I turn to classical to calm the nerves jangled by the noise from the traffic. <br />
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When I recently came across this book with the rather quaint title, I was drawn to it. The book definitely threw some light on the history of Hindustani classical music and also on the lives and motivations of some of the luminaries of this genre from the twentieth century. The title of the book is a play on the non-vegetarian dish "Ragonjosh". As you will find in more than one story in the book, some of our great hindustani musicians were connoisseurs of good food too.<br />
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The book written by Sheila Dhar, herself a trained classical musician, breathes music from the first page to the last. Yet, the wonderful way in which the stories are narrated makes the book more than just a book on music. She writes about the time when she was sixteen, when she was asked by her father to receive Bade Ghulam Ali Khan at the station and to escort him and his accompanists to the house of his host, and fetch them to the concert hall after they had refreshed themselves and had their dinner. The hosts happened to be vegetarians. The maestro could not stomach the sight of this unfamiliar food. He exploded: "Do you think I can sing the way I do if I have to feed on grasses swimming in fluids of various kinds? Every note I sing has the aroma of kebabs." Sheila then describes how everyone ran helter-skelter to prepare a meal consisting ofa rich chicken curry.<br />
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Writing about music is writing about an experience, and Sheila displays a huge talent in the way she describes music without any jargon or pretentiousness. From Pandith Pran Nath, for example, she learnt to think about ragas in terms of colors. "It was natural for him to dive into the dark depths of early morning ragas like Lalit and Bhairava, where there was no sun. Sometimes we would hear the greys and dusky ochres of twilight ragas like Puriya and Marwa, the midnight blue of magical and mysterious ragas like Malkauns, and even the restrained gold of the majestic and courtly Darbari." <br />
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In Chapter Twenty Four, titled "The New Face of Listening" the author comments about the changing dynamics of the classical music performance and listening. She talks about the perception of silence and how it has changed. Her observations are poignant. "The portrait of a raga" she says, "was thought to consist of unbroken melodic lines drawn on the canvas of silence". According to her, the gradual erosion of silence by ever increasing noise levels is the single important change that has come about in the music world in the last fifty years. <br />
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At one place in the book the author lists the following as the most attractive attrributes of Indian classical music - grace and romanticism, purity and restraint, depth and serenity. I am sure it would not be amiss to use some of these same attributes to describe this beautiful book.<br />
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A preview of the book is available on Google Books. Here is the link-<br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/7mLec">http://goo.gl/7mLec</a></div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-36782795272738203092012-11-03T12:08:00.000-07:002016-01-02T04:52:26.034-08:00Book: A View From The Outside by P. Chidambaram<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This collection of articles written by Palaniappan Chidambaram is like a ready-reckoner on indian economy, politics and governance of recent times. These articles were written between 2002-04 as columns for the newspaper Indian Express. Most, if not all the articles, are perfectly relevant even now. As the Indian Express editor Shekhar Gupta notes in his foreword, austerity and no-nonsense demeanor always have characterized this impressive politician. So it is with his writing.<br />
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The sub-title of the book is "why good economics works for everyone". It is not difficult to see why that subtitle. Everyone knows that Chidambaram is a believer in market economy and the need for a tide of economic growth to lift all boats. He does make a wonderful case for that approach.<br />
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In this age of turbulent, chaotic, intolerant politics there is no space for sane and civilized debates on issues of importance. We have become so cynical that nothing ever catches our fancy. Everything looks suspicious and we go looking for the dark clouds even when we see a silver lining. All our idols are turning up with feet of clay. In this enviroment of gloom, a bit of enlightenment on the basic issues and the available options is not a bad idea at all. <br />
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It is interesting that during the time that he wrote these articles Chidambaram was not in the government. It was just as well, that he could take this view as an outsider.<br />
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Google Books site provides a sample of this book. Here is the link- <a href="http://goo.gl/hzdoO">http://goo.gl/hzdoO</a><br />
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Here are some of the articles in the book that I found really interesting. The articles are grouped under various heads. <br />
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Foreword by Shekhar Gupta - in which Shekhar calls Chidambaram the "most prominent, persistent, committed -and successful of instinctive reformers" in our political system.<br />
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Farmers Deserve a Better Deal (Agriculture) August 9, 2002- In this article is Chidambaram's much-debated statement about our attitude to food prices, how we complain loudly about rice, milk or sugar price going up even by 1 rupee whereas we do not hesitate to pay rupees 15 for an ice-cream.<br />
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Forex: Too Much of a Good Thing (Foreign Investment) August 25, 2002- Those were still early days in our Foreign Exchange saga, when the Forex was still around 60 billion. The article argues about putting the reserves to good use instead of merely hoarding.<br />
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A Tax By Any Other Name (Monetary Policy) April 27, 2003 - An article about inflation. By the logic in that article, Chidambaram should not have been unhappy about the recent RBI's decision not to lower Repo rate.<br />
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Building Ethics with a Strong Economy (Ethics and Governance) June 15, 2003 - The grinding poverty and the slow rate of growth witnessed in the first three decades after independence are ascribed as the reasons for an all-round decline in ethics. The article observes the phenomenon of one standard of honesty when it pertained to money matters and another when it pertained to other aspects of life. In the same article is the famous quote from Indira Gandhi, "Poverty is the greatest polluter".<br />
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A Case of Guilty Till Proved Innocent (Ethics and Governance) Feb 15, 2004- An article about Rajiv Gandhi in which Chidambaram laments the mudslinging, calumny and trial by the Press that Rajiv was subjected to, in spite of there being no evidence that an Indian minister or official had received money in the Bofors deal. Rajiv's wit, the warmth and the transparent honesty are recalled in the article. It is ironic, that Chidambaram himself has been in recent times subjected to a relentless trial by the media.<br />
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India Lives In Her Villages, And How (Policies and Governance) Oct 06, 2002- The article takes on the votaries of swadeshi and "socialism" who support policies like labour-intensive development and protection against imports. The article calls attention to the fact that an average Indian village is a place with little capital, low technology and limited market access, with limited opportunities for growth. <br />
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Neither Civil, Nor Serving (Policies and Governance) August 10, 2003- The article does not object to the larger size of the civil services, but suggests to revise the structure, abolish some categories of jobs, redefine each job, retrain existing personnel and ensure each government servant contributes value.<br />
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The Four Imperatives For Faster Growth (Policies and Governance) Oct 19, 2003- The imperatives listed are Education, Electricity, Infrastructure, Investment, Information Technology and International Trade.<br />
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Is Anyone Listening to Mr Stiglitz (Policies and Governance) Jan 18, 2004 - Attention is drawn to the Nobel laureate Joseph Stigliz's quote on globalization. Stiglitz said globalization was good as it had the potential to enrich everyone in the world including the poor. He also warned that the management of globalization needed to be rethought and the policies imposed on the developing countries needed to be radically rethought. Chidambaram applies that quote from Stiglitz to the economic reforms undertaken in India and warns that unless economic reforms enrich everyone in India, particularly the poor, more and more people will lose faith in it. Lots of statistics are also provided in the article. The investments in agriculture in the period Chidambaram was in the government are compared to the investment during the years he was out of it.<br />
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People and the Rule of Law (Policies and Governance) Feb 22, 2004- In this hard hitting article (excerpted from a speech delivered in Nehru Centre, Mumbai) on the state of democracy in India, the author calls to question the political parties and civil servants forefeiting the trust of the people, the urban voters showing apathy about the electoral process, history-sheeters, accused, undertrials and accused persons becoming legislators. The article ends with the rather resigned observation "we have miles to go before we can call ourselves a civil society under the rule of law".<br />
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Try To Sit, He'll Tax Your Seat (Taxation) Nov 17, 2002 - The author comments on the report by the Task Force on Direct Taxes headed by Vijay Kelkar. Some of Kelkar's recommendations are criticized as they are seen as resulting in further complication of the tax structure and narrowing of the tax base.<br />
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Wake Upto The State of States (Politics and Governance) May 18, 2003 - Argues why it is not a bad idea to heed to the demand of a bifurcation or trifurcation of a state based on size, population and geographical characteristics. Interestingly, in Dec 2009 the statement made by Chidambaram as Home Minister on the issue of Telangana led to a controversy over the division of Andhra Pradesh. The issue still remains unresolved.<br />
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An Uneven Tale of Two People's Republics (Politics and Governance) June 29, 2003- Whenever one is talking about economic development in India, a comparison to China is inevitable. This comparison appears in several other articles in this book too. In this article, it is argued that India missed the bus to a faster development as we did not open up our economy at the time China did at the end of 1970s. The article takes objection to the excuse that is often cited for India's poor performance, that India is a democracy. Chidambaram argues that the problem is not with the institutions of democracy, namely the elections, the elected parliament or legislature, a free press and so on. He questions the quality and effectiveness of these institutions and says that the poor quality of the institutions is the real reason for poor performance. The article concludes with a hope- "A true democracy, with all its institutions in robust health, may actually accelerate growth and take India past China."<br />
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In the introduction to the section named Politics, Chidambaram states that the section is purely political and that he was implacably opposed to the basic tenets of the BJP as he felt that any liberal democrat would be opposed to the BJP. <br />
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Why Modi Is Too Mythical To Be Real (Politics) Dec 08, 2002- The belligerently argued article expresses the view that Modi was enacting a dangerous role in liberal democracy. A liberal democracy must celebrate diversity, encourage pluralism and respect differences. The article reminds the readers that it is not an accident that the developed countries of the world have embraced liberal democracy as the political basis of their nation states.<br />
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Chidambaram exhorts the reader in his introduction to the book, to go on and read the articles and feel free to agree or disagree, and says that it is the reader's right. What is indisputable at the end of reading this book is, whether one agrees or disagrees with the arguments the author is making, one is bound to end up with a better understanding of the problems underlying the Indian economy and politics.</div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887892.post-19809450797149006522012-10-22T10:30:00.000-07:002018-11-26T23:19:37.242-08:00Book: I Too Had a Dream by Verghese Kurien<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOcnyFG_NNpzNyefJz_vTEzATu9RFHr7MwuIHT3FbeaNrRch-c64Lp8nk9_Oqa0AThzI-AHSEDsK2EtK71uFMmBPnzZ3Kb_JEcgtCz8pgU-ctvtzLLhc-Sp3ap2nOe4oZRzo3HZw/s1600/Kurien.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOcnyFG_NNpzNyefJz_vTEzATu9RFHr7MwuIHT3FbeaNrRch-c64Lp8nk9_Oqa0AThzI-AHSEDsK2EtK71uFMmBPnzZ3Kb_JEcgtCz8pgU-ctvtzLLhc-Sp3ap2nOe4oZRzo3HZw/s1600/Kurien.jpg" /></a></div>
This is the story of one of India's most illustrious sons. Verghese Kurien, who passed away last month, is widely known as the Father of White Revolution. As most people in our country, I too had always heard of this man being referred to as the Milkman of India and so on, but never really had a clear idea about what exactly he did that prompted such exalted status. That was till I read this book. <br />
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The book, the autobiography of Mr Kurien as told to Gouri Salvi, wonderfully captures the life and achievements of a man who dedicated himself to the service of the farmers of our country. Born in a prominent family in Kerala, Kurien completed his early education in Kerala and Madras before embarking on higher studies in the US. What starts as an obligatory stint in the government service for Kurien in return of the sponsorship of his foreign education, ends up as a lifelong involvement for him with the dairy farmers of Gujarat.<br />
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Talking about the circumstances that led to his involvement with the dairy farmers of Kaira district in Gujarat, Kurien recalls the influence of Tribhuvandas Patel. Recalling how he was convinced to stay back and contribute with his professional skills to operate and manage the dairy for the farmers, Kurien says- " I saw that when you work merely for your own profit, the pleasure is transitory; but if you work for others, there is a deeper sense of fulfilment and if things are handled well, the money, too, is more than adequate."<br />
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In the book Kurien often talks of combining the power of the farmers with professional management. He talks about building 'true foundation for better sharing, fuller cooperation'. After successfully building brand Amul for the farmers of Kaira at Anand, Kurien is approached by Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The PM wnats him to replicate the model through the other parts of the country. That is the project we often hear being referred to as the Operation Flood. <br />
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Kurien says he opted to remain an employee of farmers all his life because he felt that he had the best job that he could ever get. The idea of working for a large number of farmers eventually for him translates itself into the concept of working for social good. In his career Kurien demonstrates a keen business sense too, that results in a better bargain for his masters - the farmers. <br />
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In the late 1960s, when there is a glut of milk products in the developed world, Kurien and others at the NDDB come up with a program to utilise the surplus commodities from Europe to generate funds required to finance the Rs 650 crore for Operation Flood. He says- " In every crisis, if you look carefully, you will spot an opportunity. My insistence on finding and seizing that opportunity has often been a source of annoyance for many of my colleagues becausse it means that unlike most people, I never try to sidestep a crisis. Rather, the more monstrous the crisis, the more I am tempted to rush at it, grasp it by the horns and manoeuvre it until it gives me what I want!"<br />
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His confrontations with the bureaucrats are numerous. Just as there are those bureaucrats who obstruct and delay, there are also those who see the merit in his proposals and go out of their way to help him. When he sends the proposal to the government in Delhi explaining how Anand could be replicated in the rest of the country, the proposal initially gathers dust in the office of an officer at the Planning Commission. Only after Kurien speaks to the then Home Secretary about it, the proposal moves forward. The project eventually resulted in the creation of a huge cooperative structure to involve more than a crore of dairy farmers. The farmers getting to be members of cooperatives, cooperative unions and federations, and owning dairy plants!<br />
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This book came out in 2005 and interestingly in 2006 Mr Kurien was forced to resign from the chairmanship of NDDB (National Dairy Development Board) that he had founded and remained the chairman of for three decades! In the chapter named "Post Script" in this book, Kurien talks about the shift in NDDB's policies. He doesnt apporve of NDDB's decision to register a company called Mother Dairy Fruits and Vegetable Private Ltd. He objects to the decision to corporatize the NDDB and to float a company to compete with the dairy cooperatives. He writes - "I have fought against the efforts to undermine the interests of our farmers by vested interests - be they those of unscrupulous politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen or institutions - for all my life, and I will continue to do so unless someone shows me a better way of serving our nation's producers to become productive members of our society."<br />
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Kurien's dream clearly, as underscored throughout the book, was to see that the farmers of India had a level playing field to compete with other forms of businesses. He laid his trust on the power of cooperatives to enable the farmers to achieve that. He regretted the fact that not all cooperatives were run as genuine cooperatives, like Amul, and also that they were not given a level playing field.<br />
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Rest in peace, Mr Kurien! </div>
Srinath Shiragalalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17754611600001141000noreply@blogger.com0