Saturday 16 February 2013

Short Stories of Anton Chekhov ― Feb 14, 2013



 Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov, master-storyteller and dramatist, keen observer of human behaviour, and professional physician, has left an enormous number of short stories which seem ageless.

 Gopa

Many of them have no point to make; they are descriptions of mundane things that happen to ordinary people, without any dramatic element, or surprising revelation at the end. Others like Ward No. 6 have the plot lines of a novel. The inversion of fortunes at the end makes one wonder how easily a person may be passed off as insane.

Arundhaty reads from Chekhov's play 'The Three Sisters'

As numerous, however, are the carefully plotted gems, such as A Work of Art.  Humour, surprise, the small deceits of human beings, and sense of fate coming full circle, contribute to its masterly hold on the reader.

 Priya ponders a point

Salman Rushdie hid his identity during the fatwa period under a name composed of two of his favourite authors, the first being Anton Chekhov. The surprisingly graceful translations available in the public domain do great credit to Chekhov.

 Gopa learns Kindle e-reader techniques from Priya, as Thommo and KumKum watch

Here are the readers assembled before the reading:

 Talitha, Priya, Thommo, Gopa, KumKum, Mathew, Sunil, & Joe
Zakia & Arundhaty came later


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Wednesday 13 February 2013

Chitra Banerjee Divakruni reading from her works — Feb 12, 2013




David Hall hosted the Indian-American author, Chitra Banerjee Divakruni, on Feb 12, 2013. She gave two readings from her works. The first from her retelling of the Mahabharata, The Palace of Illusions, speaks of the trembling in her heart as Draupadi goes to face the swayamvara, escorted by her twin brother, Dhristadyumna.

  Chita Banaerjee Divakaruni, reading from 'The Palace of Illusions'

In the second reading from a recent novel, One Amazing Thing, Chitra Banerjee Divakruni deals with seven characters isolated in a building by an earthquake. The title has to do with the characters breaking the ice by narrating the one unbelievable event that has taken place in their lives that they’ve not told anyone about. 

 The audience for Chita Banaerjee Divakaruni's reading

Introducing the session was a mime by Bharatnatyam dancer Dr. Mini Vettickal. Her marvellous interpretation of a poem, The River, by Chitra Banerjee Divakruni was enacted with great spirit, exploiting all the resources of Abhinaya. We hope to see more of this fine dancer on the stage in Kochi.

 Mini Vettickal 'performing' the poem 'The River'

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