“Justice? What is justice? It’s a mere word. It’s an abstract word with no universal meaning. To different classes of people, justice means different things”,
I felt that.
Ananya’s post had a question, ” why is hate an easy emotion?”. It’s because of the fear of the unknown and the desire for a scapegoat to funnel their negative energy.
#qotd : Have you ever noticed that it’s always easier for people to hate a community rather than hating an individual? Do you know why?
China’s cultural revolution was anything but cultural. Anyone not praising the Communist Party or the leader Mao Tse-tung (who was trying to purge political rivals and reassert his authority) was considered to be “uncultured”. To ensure his position, Mao appointed a special committee to conduct the Cultural Revolution in the name of ” The Great Leap”.
Chinese Cultural Revolution
This committee called the Gang of Four was led by Mao’s wife and 3 other women who were barbarously ambitious and controlled the entire revolution abducting people, forcing them to confess for something they didn’t commit, persecuting them in the name of “Enemy of the state” and killing them in the hands of their so-called revolutionaries. She had the army of Red Guards who were mostly teens with rushing hormones with no knowledge about anything and would even kill their families if aggravated. The mission of the Red Guards was to rid the country of the “Four Olds”: old culture, old customs, old habits, and old ways of thinking. Mao’s “The Great leap forward” that was supposed to be economically revolutionary resulted in The Great Chinese Famine killing thousands of people.
Mao’S Wife
Nien Cheng was the wealthy widow of Kang-chi Cheng who worked for Kuomintang. She was Western-educated, “Read Books by foreign authors” and herself worked in Shell oil. Red guards ransacked her home, arrested her on suspicion, and kept her in solitary confinement for 6.5 years. In these years, she was brutally tortured, kept in a cell too small to even lie down, handcuffed so tightly that she feared losing her hands, and even forced to confess being a foreign spy (just as they did to hundreds of other citizens, but they confessed and Cheng didn’t). She conquered every allegation thrown at her. She even used Mao’s teachings successfully against her interrogators, frequently turning the tide of the struggle sessions against the interrogators. During her term, Cheng lost her teeth, caught pneumonia, and had hemorrhages yet she defused the misery by laughing at her accusers. After her years in custody, she was told on March 27, 1973, that she was being released because of an “improvement in her way of thinking and an attitude of repentance.” She refused to accept that statement and vowed to remain in detention until prison officials officially declared her innocent and published an apology in Shanghai and Beijing. Yes, she single-handedly defeated Mao’s army.
Nien Cheng
I am not going to describe the life of Cheng after her release or what made her move to another country. That’s for you to find out. And this book is not just an autobiography, it’s the history in itself.
What’s common between Greek and Hindu myths? Zeus and Indra, Icarus and Sampati, Hermes and Narada, Trojan War and Ramayan, even the concept of gay, transgender, or impotent Gods. And the difference? We got Gods and became blind, they got Gods and opened their eyes. We don’t even question their actions and they never saw them as just and merciful and dared to challenge their authority. Gods can be really weird with their own logic that doesn’t apply to us nor would they want to(if present). And Stephen Fry perfectly understands this brutal queerness of Greek Gods like the birth of Aphrodite( I wouldn’t get into the ball cutting part as that can be a spoiler).
Read this book as a part of #folkloredecember with @whatsshwereading and I wish I would have heard the audiobook first as reading the book and listening to Stephen Fry are two different experiences. I heard it yesterday after Swetha’s reco. So I will talk about the good and bad aspects of the reading part.
The title tag, “Greek Myths retold”, can be misleading. It’s not retelling, it’s what we already know and have been among us for quite some time. He talks about a small group of Gods that doesn’t include the bigger ones just like talking about Mahabharata and excluding Bharata and Shantanu. (But I understand that I have to read the next book.) If you are someone new to Greek mythology, you need to gather your knowledge before hopping on to Fry’s space. Relying on it for everything is like relying on modern retellings of Mahabharata for actual incidental information. It’s hard to impress with a retelling to someone who has gone through the actual scripts. At times I found the writing chaotic and started missing the ” who’s who” with so many elements romping all around the book. I started losing the track of it and had to go back and forth.
But would I recommend it? Yes! Read it for Fry, his wit, his wicked humor & his absolute love for this subject. Fry was unusually delicate about Gay Gods and his pleasing way of characterizing things kept me hooked up.
Fry absolutely has a grip over his love for language. He shows us how these myths gave us our modern-day expressions and how strong an impact they have on us. As you go deeper you realize that his goal was not to interpret or clarify things rather only to tell them, breathing new life into these well-known characters and making stories outright funny.
He has added notes littered all around for you to catch them. These are the soul of the book.
I loved Fry’s vibrant aura and would love to dig into more of his works before coming to any conclusions about my relationship with him. I recommend hearing the audiobook first for Fry made it irresistible.
Watch out, Mr. Neil Gaiman! I may fall for Mr.Fry
And Mr. Stephen Fry, you and I have one more date!
“In these times I don’t, in a manner of speaking, know what I want; perhaps I don’t want what I know and want what I don’t know.” Marsilio Ficino, The Letters of Marsilio
We, humans, are ambivalent. Duality in disposition interprets our true selves. Neither we have outstanding good characters nor the prominent evil ones. We keep wavering between them as long as we breathe. We sin, we bemoan, we ask for redemption. But when given chance, we sin again. There is this endless loop of going back to where it all began. But what changes, are the elements we confront in this loop. These elements are powerful enough to either make us hop into another loop for salvation or keep on running the same into our damnation. Do you know what’s crazy? We get to choose what spice we add to our curries. At every step of our life, we get options to choose that determines our fate.
Then why “Qué Será Será”?
Why it is said that what has to transpire will transpire?
If that is the case then why we need to do the right things at the right time? Why not live our lives with pride, ambitions, and arrogance? Are we deemed to have free will in our paths or is it all on fate? If you are confused then, mate, you are not alone in this, Doctor Faustus was equally disturbed.
Read Doctor Faustus, a play by Christopher Marlowe for the#spookitupanotch readathon conducted by our book club, The Biblioraptor BookClub. And guess what! I was amazed at how perfectly Marlowe understood the dual nature of humanity.
( No, this is not a review. This is completely my perception based on the play and the movie. If you disagree, kindly be polite about that and we can discuss it.)
*Connotation of Pride.
Many say that Doctor Faustus is the perfect portrayal of the inner struggle of the human mind. But I say, it’s so much more than that. The unmistakable point to notice was the portrayal of Pride and Ambition, not only of Faustus but also of one of the least interactive character, Lucifer. Who doesn’t know the biblical justification for the banishment of Lucifer? The pride that threw Lucifer out of heaven was the reason that took everything away from Faustus.
*The Duality resides in us.
There was a point when I screamed at Faustus.
A man who is in constant motion, mentally!
He fights between good and evil, between knowledge and greed, and even between God and the Renaissance. Being someone from the Medieval period but well-read, he is constantly wavering between Putting God as his central focus and longing for magic and necromancy. His primary interest in the deal was to gain proficiency in the other world as he had completely gained all sorts of Earthly Knowledge. But it didn’t take much time to hop into the shoes of greed and lust.
And then he had so many characters around him to detract him. The good and evil angels popping up, ” tween tween” and dragging him both ways. Then there are his worthless opportunistic friends who are just waiting to bathe in the light of his fame. And of course our beloved Mephistopheles.
Leave him alone, guys!
(I would suggest people read Dawkins Theory after this. It’s bizarre but will blow your mind and you can find similarities between this play and the book.)
*The mythical junctions.
The story of this Doctor of Divinity has all the connections with the Greek Tragedy (it’s that obvious), structurally and thematically. The preliminary speeches, the protagonist falling into the hands of circumstances, the choral narratives, and the heart-wrenching mishaps. I was amazed at the fact that this play had no particular narrator, either the characters are blabbering or the chorus just popping up out of nowhere to provide the background information about Faustus’ life, swelling pride, and how it led to his downfall. There was also this prominent indication of the popular tale of Icarus, the son of Daedalus. The biblical reference was clear too with the Sin-redemption-damnation concept. And “Deal with the devil” part taken from European folklore.
(Honestly, though the genre was a tragedy, I couldn’t stop laughing at a few places. Like the prank in Pope’s assembly was funny. Even Robin clown ignoring Mephis’ threatenings.)
*Faustus wanted to be a Demi-God.
Within a few intervals, the craving for knowledge was flushed into the gutter and all that left was the desire to become a demi-god with immense supremacy that paved the way to greed, lust, arrogance, and blind heeding into the evilness. He claimed to use the gained knowledge for greater researches but ends up using it for cheap tricks and dirty pranks. Faustus not only accepts evilness into him but also influences his surroundings, like Wagner using magic to control Robin or Robin summoning Mephistopheles for his naughty tricks.
I have a theory here, Faustus summons Mephistopheles and razes all links with God. But when Mephis arrives, he gets scared of his appearance and orders him to change his face and come back. And Mephis returns disguised as a saint. It clearly shows the hypocrisy that lies within us. We mask our evil traits with brighter and calmer faces and expect the other person to do the same. We believe that anyone wearing a mask of a saint is trustable, even if we realize that the person is disguised. Isn’t it what happening around us with all those self-proclaimed Gurus? Another point is, we humans cannot bear the burden of ugly truth, hence, we always prefer fabricated lies. This point is cleverly portrayed in the part where Faustus orders Mephistopheles to bring him an illusional spirit of Helen Of Troy (*steamy *steamy) in Act 5, twice. Even in his last moments, he yearns for the physical love of Helena but not the forgiveness of God.
*Homo Fuge.
The good and the evil angels very well represent the two states of mind but at various points, the emotions get intermingled. There is a lot of confusion between what is wrong and what is right in Faustus’ mind. Though it’s quite clear for the audience. (As expected)
The second appearance of the angels shows that humans always get second chances to rectify their deeds. It’s then the choices they make that changes their fate forever.
Even the blood getting clot indicates that as if the blood didn’t want him to sign the pact. It shows how at every step your mind and soul question your actions.
“Homo Fuge”, which means “Fly, man!”, shows that instead of flying into righteousness, Faustus chose to sell his soul to the Devil. A warning from God to fly away from this path for it will bring him no peace. Evil ways will always lure you to embrace them, but it’s you who decides the way your term ends.
*Mephistopheles, the star of the story.
The way Marlowe has given dialogues to Mephis is impeccable. Even for a moment, I wanted to sign that pact. It’s so seductive and persuasive that it feels so right at that moment. I can’t blame Faustus at that moment.
I loved the part where he explained that hell has no limits since it is not just any particular physical space. Any place away from your conscience is hell.
” Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed In one self place, for where we are is hell, And where hell is there must we ever be. -Mephistopheles”
“Hell is just a frame of mind“
The cunning creature, that he had to be, told Faustus the stories of Lucifer’s banishment, of heaven and hell but cleverly ignores the most crucial question, “who created the universe?” Wickedness avoids confrontation with eternal verities.
To distract Faustus from his quest for truth, Lucifer shows him a pageant of seven deadly sins.
How easy it is to manipulate us!
The path to damnation is always full of glory and grandiose. But the path to redemption tests you at every notch. Faustus cheats everyone, plays dirty pranks, and tortures people that came his way digging up his own grave.
A peculiar point that struck me was the point where Faustus ordered Mephis to torture the old man for warning him. According to the then applied theory, Mephis could only have tortured his body and not the soul, for his soul belongs to God. (He has not sold it to the devil) (correct me if I am wrong).
Even Robin’s part confused me. Was he turned into an animal? Let me know in the comments below.
*Ciao, Faustus.
All these for nothing? Noone helped Faustus in those last moments. His friends found his body brutally tortured and left alone. I remember reading these kinds of stories where the once glorious life ends with loneliness and murder. Why does it remind me of The Great Gatsby? Now to answer my question, it was never fate that dragged Faustus into his damnation. No one ever pressured him. (Although seduced) But he chose his own path. At every step, he was given the option to choose between the good and the bad. But he was so in lust for supremacy, that he couldn’t choose to struggle in the path of righteousness.
For Faustus, everything was out of the free will. Even summoning Mephistopheles.
“Fools that will laugh on earth, most weep in hell.“
I can go on writing about this marvelous piece of art. And you may even get another post about it. So don’t blame me.
Wanna know why am I so obsessed with this? Try reading Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. And if all these confused you, that’s because I tried to jink it up and not to spill the specific facts.
When you are all set to dive into the shaded pool of Halloween, what else can spook you up to other than an all armed, handsomely dressed man holding his head in his hands? Whoooo!
Watched the Johnny Depp starring movie fortuitously long back and almost forgot about it. And then we decided to have a spooky Halloween themed readathon for our club, The Biblioraptor BookClub. The first book that came to my mind was “The legend of sleepy hollow”. The movie was something and wanted to read the book since then. But the crazy-lazy soul in me kept on hindering everything and eventually, it slipped into the junkyard section of my mind.
I pulled it out, wiped it clean and began skimming it last week. To make my experience more breathtaking, I decided to watch the movie again along with the famous Disney two-part animated movie. Trust me, the experience was unprecedented. So here’s what I went through the entire week.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving
“…ducks and geese are foolish things and must be looked after, but girls can take care of themselves.”
Written in the time when women were seen as mere arm candies, this line was the “Awww” moment for me. But, But, But, Ichabod Crane is a douche canoe. Don’t fall for the movies and series version, Irving’s Ichabod is a lanky, irritating and pant-pooping filthy teacher who wants to marry Katrina Van Tassel(who is also one of his music students) because she is rich, beautiful and has large… tracts of lands. That’s the horrible man!
Ichabod, being from Connecticut which could only generate school teachers then, was someone who couldn’t rely on his looks to woo the women of Sleepy Hollow. So, he used his knowledge to show his superior tastes to most people from Sleepy Hollow. For someone who makes almost no money from his classes, his perpetual poverty makes him drool over the fruits from Mr.Van Tassel’s land and the only way to rise above his own standards is to marry Katrina.
Brom Bones is our regular evil bully whose only interest lies in scaring off Katrina’s suitors. But shaking Ichabod’s position was hard, hence he turned into his best skill to humiliate Ichabod – Pranks.
Ichabod from the book is someone who would believe the strangest of the tales that goes around for he has read a lot of them. He is, in other words, completely naïve and suggestible. The local tale of the Galloping Hessian who rides headless through the woods of Sleepy Hollow particularly alarms him. For those who couldn’t read further, the real excitement starts after the headless horseman arrives. The classic description, the logical reasoning of the horseman and the enduring mystery made the story quite fascinating. Ichabod being followed by the headless horseman in the eerie night tries to rush as fast as he can on his horse chased by the headless man. Being not a skilled rider, Ichabod gets dodged by something near the church. And the very next day the horse Crane was riding returns back to his farm owner and the village never heard of Ichabod Crane ever again.
Disney’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad : (1949)
♪ When the ghosts have a midnight jamboree ♪♪ They break it up with fiendish glee ♪♪ Ghosts are bad, but the one that’s cursed ♪♪ Is the Headless Horseman; he’s the worst! ♪
It’s actually a two-segmented movie where the first part is the story of Mr Toad from “The winds in the willows” by Kenneth Grahame and the second part is about Ichabod Crane from “The legend of sleepy hollows” by Irving. And I have to agree that Walt Disney gave the perfect look to Ichabod Crane. The total ambience of the movie was quite similar to that of the Scooby-Doo series. Funny character stretches that face the evil ones. Those accurate expressions. The dialogues. Oh my God! Those were days when watching cartoons was an experience of another level.
(Haven’t read “The winds in the willows” to comment on the first part. )
And Now to my favourite part.
Sleepy Hollow (The Movie): 1999
“When Tim Burton asks you to do a film, do it” – Johnny Depp
The brilliant Gothic colour that takes you to another world, the entire team so much into their characters, the precise dialogues and stunning references throughout the movie. If you didn’t like the movie, I suggest you watch it again and focus on minor details.
Initially, I thought it to be a satirical movie. When I rewatched it after reading the book, I realized that they both were so different. Ichabod from the book was a jerk, but Ichabod of the movie was, umm! – A doormat. Yet he tries to step into the sludge for something he desires. He has his own justifications for being the way he is.
It shows fragments of memories of Ichabod showing his mother from young Ichabod’s perspective. When his mother is on screen, everything is in bright colours, soft, filled with compassion. But when he glimpses his father, the screen transitions into dark ambience with intense and alarming music to show the brutal side of him. The brilliant part is the absence of dialogues in the dreaming parts that allows you to focus on the environment. He contradicts his father with the headless man when he sees his father exit.
And for the parts where Ichabod isn’t dreaming, Tim Burton and Emmanuel Lubezki created a place with such distinctive features that doesn’t feel like a real place, rather something happening in someone’s imagination. The Sleepy Hollow is a grim place, the houses stooping together for support, the shutters slammed against visitors. There is never a sunny day here. The faces of the village fathers are perpetually settled into displeasure.
This may fascinate you that the movie resembles a lot to the Hammer movies with its colour distinctions, the settings, the creepy gooey bodies and the character parities. Everything looks so fake, yet you believe them. And all that was intentional, trust me.
Ichabod crane believes all to be superstition and starts his investigations with his set of bizarre instruments. The rough rides between the headless horseman and Ichabod take a traditional path towards the end to match the generic effects of the previous adaptations. The horseman has its own way of delivering justice to those who deserve it, hence, has a particular choice of people to be punished which kind of feel logical.
This movie isn’t the story what Washington Irving gave us. This is exactly the retelling we needed. I am not so instilled by Irving’s book now. I need an edition with this story in it. There are a lot more in this than I have jotted down. And you need to watch it.
Tell me I have convinced you to watch it. Else I have to write another article for it. But before that, I suggest you read the book. It’s a short one and you can finish it in a day or two. I am adding the link to buy the book and the movie is on Netflix.
Home To 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the most number of Ayurvedic schools in the world, the south Deccan realm has furthermore given us some of the world’s most exotic literary adventures. From Manimekalai by Chitalai Chathanar to Thirukural by Thiruvalluvar or Andhra Maha Bharatamu by Tikkana, Eranna, and Nannaya, their literary traditions go back to the time of initial human civilization boom almost 2000 years ago.
These wonders were passed on to emerging generations by the majesties of different cultures who took the charge to inscribe them into different forms. Some adapted them into their traditional observances and others added them to their scholastic curriculums. Nevertheless, our tribal or royal lineages of different sections bore the burden of not letting the history lose its certainty in a completely new world for as long as possible.
However, since the arrival of new political and structural changes, the lineages themselves started falling off and the fear of losing our identity stood in front of us as a shattered mirage to haunt us for eternity. And then miraculously came forward our new age Indian authors to document as much sap they could extract as possible from the roots of their ancestries.
And I take this opportunity to list some of my personal favorites from each section of South India which we call today the states and territories. These are not just historical pieces, they are journeys down the memory lanes of some of the most unique historical events inscribed by our prominent authors in their magnificent artworks.
Here is the list of volumes and their creators each according to their origins. Happy reading:
• Elegant and Belletristic, Kerala :
“The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore by Manu S. Pillai”
Think of the “History” period in your classroom, the classes about old and modern world history. Boring, right? Now imagine how your classes would have been if your teacher would have told you about the badass women who tie up their hair into a bun to fight their battles and then come back home to do their manicures. Amusing?
So was our book on the last ruling queen of Travancore, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi. Perhaps a rare book on such a brilliant historical subject written in a way that felt like a completely fictional story. At least one history book where some megalomaniacs dudes aren’t fighting a nugatory battle for some insane boundary crossover. An absolutely witty yet insightful read for history haters. This book is exceptional. Try it.
• Ritualistically elegant Tamil Nadu:
“The Prince Who Became a Monk & Other Stories from Tamil Literature By M. L. Thangappa”
The author of one of the five great epics of Sangam literature, the most cherished, Silapaddhikaram Ilango Adigal was in fact a prince. He was the brother of the most celebrated Chera king of 3rd Century CE, Senguttuvan. Ilango Adigal chose to become a monk and then the history follows. But this particular book talks about 35 different stories along with the one about the prince, beautifully translated by M.L. Thangappa. Each story is extracted from a lost tradition of Tamil culture that dates back to 2000 years old India.
• Magnificient and Alluring Karnataka
Splendours of Royal Mysore Book by Vikram Sampath
Chronological account of 600-year-old Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore. The author has covered the entire history of Mysore in great detail. From the golden era of the Wodeyar dynasty to the rise and fall of Tipu Sultan and Haider Ali. The return of Wodeyars and the complex character of Tipu Sultan. The rule of benevolent British commissioners like Mark Cubbon and Bowring has been described and their contributions have been mentioned. The efforts of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar to get back his kingdom, how he redeemed himself. Vikram Sampath has left no stones unturned to go deep into the history of Kannadigas.
• Spirituous and Artistic Andhra Pradesh :
The untold Charminar: Writings on Hyderabad by Syeda Imam
Such an eclectic collection of mostly personal articles, memoirs, and analyses on the grand city of Hyderabad. From Narendra Luther’s “Hyderabad through Foreign Eyes” to Sarojini Naidu’s “Letters too tell stories” which tenaciously unfurls the loss she felt after the death of the 6th Nizam. This book has a detailed account of Hyderabad’s most exclusive tales.
• Fierce and Fiesty Telangana :
The Kolams of Adilabad in Telangana: A Sociocultural Milieu By D. Yashwant Rao
A perfect literary contribution to the socio-cultural environ of the rudimentary clans living in the Adilabad district of Telangana. The author has conscientiously carried out the work and brought out the life, living conditions, and cultural styles of the Kolams. Survey, documentation, and presentation are highly comprehending. If you still wonder about the history of newly formed Telangana, this is something you need to add to your reading list.
• Naturesque Prison, Andamans :
The Tale of My Exile By Barindra Kumar Ghosh
Yet again a witty account of a person who was sentenced to death in 1909 in the Alipore Bomb Case later being commuted to life imprisonment in Alipore jail. A humorous description of the hard life of deprivation and humiliation by the prison authorities, written himself by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, the younger brother of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh.
• Nicobar Niches :
Nicobar Islands: in natures kingdom By Tilak Ranjan Bera
I was quite happy to read a book on Nicobarese people that isn’t just a travel blog. A systematic presentation of colonial settlement, historical events, unexplored and unknown Isles, human surveillance, and post-Tsunami managements. A lot has been told about the language, culture, and traditions of the people of Nicobar. If you aren’t really fond of travel guides and seek something more, this is your entity.
• Serene and Sublime Lakshadweep:
The Muslim Tribes of Lakshadweep Islands By Makhan Jha
A short and quick read on the cultural and social structure of the people on the Lakshadweep Islands. The caste structure, hierarchical structure, and history of colonization, all have been included in this anthropological appraisal of island ecology and cultural perceptions.
• De toute beauté Puducherry:
Beyond the Boulevards by Aditi Sriram
A book about pure love for one of India’s most beautiful and culturally diverse territory. The elegant use of metaphors, embroiderical detailing of minute scenes, diverse representation across social classes and cultural groups shows the author’s pure love and dedication for the unique history of Pondicherry. Pick it up to experience the beauty of the city along with the author herself.
These recommendations are just a drop from the entire ocean. There are tons of such marvels that add to the Indian literature and history. Human civilization has been telling its own story through the pens of our beloved authors and only God knows what other wonders we are yet to encounter.
Signing off in the hope to add some more in my next article. Any suggestions are welcomed. Till then you can find the proposed books at
“Every time we reminisce a forgotten memory, we give it back its esprit.”
Bygone literary works are hidden gems that remain buried deep in the grottoes of modernizations. We see around us lots of established and easily accessible volumes, being reviewed, and promoted every day. Each year millions of books get published and all credit goes to the publishing industries. Even various self-publishing houses have given platforms to many aspiring authors which in turn add degrees to the already existing lots. I won’t say this is bad. Never. Short stories or flash fiction writers like us desire to have a book published someday, and platforms, as we have today, are definitely our Idylls. But somehow in this new augmented world, we have forgotten our unsung heroes whose contributions were as precious as the popular ones, if not better.
I, being from a family where everyone has a personal library of their own, was lucky enough to collect as many marvels as possible. A pinch of anxiety, a dash of coercion, a scramble of arm-twisting, and an ocean of phony-bunny tears – a perfect recipe for a book chantage. And now I have my own mini-library of valuable, unique, and rare available books by authors who were once some of the founding bricks of the world literature. I am amazed by the diversity in the essence of those pieces. Each book is a different world in itself. I still remember reading Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees. The beautifuldescription of the fictitious town was so near to perfect that every page of it felt real.
It wasn’t a lie when someone said,
“Books have the power to transport us to new worlds and different times, but they can also take us back to the important moments in our own lives.”
I have sundered these prodigies into different sections according to the year they were publicized. However, since we are already in the month of India’s independence, here I am inscribing down some of my valued yet forgotten Indian Books by Indian Authors divided into two sections, the mystical Indian Poets and the miraculous Indian Novelists.
Hope you like them all.
PART 1: TRANSCENDENTAL INDIAN POEMS:
• GITA GOVINDA BY Jayadeva.
Starting with the one for which I am completely biased. Being a classical dancer myself and someone from Odisha, Gita Govinda is in my blood. Composed in the 12th century by an East Indian Poet, Jayadeva, it is a beautiful piece that elaborates on the relationship between Lord Krishna and Gopis (esp. Radha). It is divided into 12 parts which are further divided into Ashtapadis. It speaks about the eight different moods of the leading heroine, Radha, together called Ashta Nayika.
Written in Persian Verse, this is a spiritual letter sent by the Guru to Emperor Aurangazeb after the Battle of Chamkaur where he reminds Aurangzeb how he and his henchmen had broken their oaths sworn upon the Qur’an and his victory isn’t a true victory.
• ANCIENT BALLADS & LEGENDS OF HINDUSTAN by Toru Dutt
At a time when a very few Indians were well versed in English, Toru Dutt scripted her works in English or French. This book is an unfinished piece that consists of 16 poems relishing India.
• SCATTERED PEARLS (Bikhare Moti) by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan
” Khoob ladhi Mardaani thi wo” – An unforgettable poem in every Indian’s heart was written by the first woman satyagrahi to be arrested and even twice. This book is a less popular work by her but as fiery as her other works on nationalism that encouraged people to participate in the Indian National Movement.
• MIRAGE AND MIRRORS by Harindranath Chattopadhyay
The younger brother of The Nightingale of India and our famous Daduji from the 1972 epic movie “Bawarchi” is yet another splendor in Indian Literature whose works are known less to the world. All his works are incredible, this one is just my personal favorite.
PART 2: THE EMBLEMATIC INDIAN TALES
• TALES FROM KATHASARITASAGAR by Somadeva Bhatta
Written by an 11th-century author, this book is a multilayered work of story within a story that includes folk tales, fairy tales, and legends from India. An adoption of Brihatkatha which was originally written in an unattested ancient language Paisachi.
• SALLIES OF MIND (Ghubar-e-Khatir) by Abul Kalam Azad.
One book from this entire list that broke my heart into a thousand chunks. A series of letters written in Urdu during his tenure in Ahmed Nagar Jail and each of a different theme from a sparrow to an essay on tea.
• GORA by Rabindranath Tagore
This is a bit popular as compared to the rest of the anecdotes but something worth mentioning while talking about the Indian Independence theme. A remarkable work in the history of the Bengali saga that reflects the social, political, and religious scene in Bengal at a time of intense nationalism in India.
• LOKAYAT: A Study in Ancient Indian Materialism by Debiprasad Chattopadhyay
A book that unearths evidence about an ancient Indian materialist philosophy that may have been suppressed in the first millennium ACE by orthodox Hindu philosophers, as a result, none of the works written under the rubric of “Lokayata” have survived except a few.
Do you consider Manto to be a Pakistani writer? I don’t, I can’t. He is as much Indian as we are. However, this piece of art is the most undisputed work by Manto. Fascinating, influential, and relatable. It was translated from Urdu by Saba Mahmood Bashir.
Phew! That was quite an eventful stint, wasn’t it? It’s always exciting to know about the literary history of the world. I have always loved exploring the various spectrum and I strongly acknowledge that such epic scriptures are the inceptions of several evolutionary episodes.
These are just a few of them. If you wish to know more about such wonders, do let me know in the comments section. I have also added the links to some of the books available on Bookish Santa. For rest, please visit their website :
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Utkirtana 