Poetry Session July 15, 2011

  Priya reads from Shelley's Ode to the West Wind

KRG readers were wide-ranging in their choice of poets to recite: five nationalities, and two poets in translation.

Talitha reads poems by Louis MacNeice

Many characteristics of poetry have been used to describe it. Here's one that Joe offered at this reading in connection with the French poet, Gérard de Nerval:

The end of a poem is creating a sound that resonates in the mind, long after its slight meaning is forgotten.

 

This will remind some readers of Dylan Thomas' reaction to a person who asked what his famous villanelle on death 'meant' – to which he replied, “You should listen to the sound of the meaning.” In the full account below you will come across further reflections.

Thommo shows Talitha his copy of The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce

Judging from the laughter that resounded in the CYC library, we all had a good time; a verbal record will not capture the fun that attended the actual reading, though the readers had put in serious preparation. Talitha had insights and diversions to offer at every turn, and so did others. 

Talitha, KumKum, Zakia, Bobby, Priya, Thommo,and  Joe

While offering our commiseration to those who could not attend the reading, perhaps they will derive something of its flavour by reading the full account below.

Rabindranath Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary - 13: Short Stories

 

Tagore Short Stories on film:

Khudito Pashan, Teen Kanya, Ghare Baire, Kabuliwala and Char Adhyay †

In this post Padmanabha sets forth his personal appreciation of the style and content of Rabindranath's short stories.

N.K. Sidhanta recalls that when Rabindranath started writing, the short story form had not taken root in India yet.

“But there was something in the form, in its conciseness and compression, that appealed to Rabindrnath. He explained in a letter to a friend that he was repelled by the elaborate convolutions in a long novel, by the laborious analysis of static situations and of events that had little significance. Through its brevity the short story subjected the writer to a discipline, and for a period Rabindranath welcomed this discipline for his objective writing.” (Rabindranath Tagore, A Centenary Volume, Sahitya Akademi, 1961)

Syed Mujtaba Ali, the Bengali poet and writer who studied at Santiniketan with Rabindranath, has used superlatives to describe his reaction to Tagore's short stories. Padmanabha starts off with Ali's comment and covers a slew of stories to see whether the praise was indeed justified. At a minimum, this will impel readers to drink at the source, if not in Bengali, then in English translations, of which several have been released.

† The six DVDs of the set can be purchased for Rs 339 from:
http://www.flipkart.com/movies/itmczcsmgdzyzpze

Read Padmanabha's full account below.

Rabindranath Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary - 12: Short Stories, Third Selection

Like other great writers, R abindranath was attracted to the challenge of the short story, and some of his creations have been compared to lyric poems. They meant a lot to the the author also, as we learn from a letter of his from Shelidah, a village he lived in when looking after the family property:

If I do nothing else but write short stories I shall be happy, and I hope to make a few readers happy too. The main cause of the happiness is that the people about whom I write become my companions: they are with me when I am confined to my room in the rains, and on a sunny day they move about with me on the bright banks of the Padma. Today, since early morning a petulant little girl named Giribala has entered my imaginary world.

(This excerpt is quoted by Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta in his appreciation for the Tagore Centenary volume published by the Sahitya Akademi in 1961).

KumKum, Padmanabha, and Soma come to the end of their reading of Tagore short stories with a third tranche consisting of the following stories selected by Padmanabha: Sampatti Samarpan, Kabuliwala, Atithi, Prayaschitta, Anadhikar Prabesh.

Read on below —

Rabindranath Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary - 11: Short Stories, Second Selection

KumKum, Soma, and  Padmanabha continue their reading of Tagore's short stories with a second tranche consisting of the following selection by KumKum: Taraprasannar Kirti, Denapawna, The Postmaster, Ginni and Muktir Upaye. In what follows you can read their reflections upon a fresh reading of the stories by clicking below.

Amitav Ghosh reading from “River of Smoke”– June 23, 2011

Amitav Ghosh was at his eloquent best reading from River of Smoke, his latest novel. The six pages he read are a gripping account of a storm that almost upset a ship carrying the largest consignment of opium ever from India to China, for Seth Bahramji, a Parsi trader.

 Diya Kar and Amitav Ghosh launching 'River of Smoke' in Kochi

Taj Vivanta Malabar and Penguin Books hosted the packed event. The author expressed his delight at being in Kerala again, the place where he took his first writerly steps in 1983 with the book The Circle of Reason.

Amitav Ghosh reads from 'River of Smoke'

After the reading there were many questions from the audience, to which Amitav Ghosh responded with expansive details on the history of opium trading. He said the wealth accumulated in the 19th century in Europe and USA could be traced largely to the opium trade. It was carried on by the British Crown as the main purveyor of opium to the world. China was victimised by opium addiction, bitterly against the will of Chinese authorities, by gunboat diplomacy – which led to the Opium Wars.

Priya, Kamli and KumKum

A major character in the book is the city of Canton itself, now called Guangzhou. It was a most fascinating city and Amitav Ghosh has elaborated its exciting cosmopolitan life with meticulous care for its history.

Thommo, Geetha and Minu

Readers have some wonderful writing in store, and a yarn told with great verve and engrossing detail. The signing of books went on for a good hour after the reading – a testament to the avidity of Kochi readers and the natural courtesy of Amitav Ghosh who chatted on as though time could stretch forever into the future. But alas, the evening came to an end. Wonderful snacks too and a great revelation of pastries by the chef, Sudipto Chaudhuri.

KumKum tries to appropriate Amitav Ghosh, based on their shared Rangoon background

For a full account, click below.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy – June 17, 2011

 Thomas Hardy - Maggie Richardson's Bronze Bust

Tess was long awaited by KRG readers since it promised the same fervent reading pleasure and exciting debate as Madame Bovary. We follow the adventures of a lovely heroine, endowed with spunk and intelligence, asking Hardy to be our guide and plot the way.

Priya, Zakia, Amita, and Bobby listening to Talitha

With murder at the beginning and the end, and sensuous descriptions of his beloved landscape in 'Wessex', Hardy mesmerises the patient reader. His delight in words and the overpowering scenes in the book beguile and charm us.

Thommo reads about the first penetration

There's a reckoning at the end, but how sad we feel for Tess — "the most bewitching milkmaid ever seen."  Whom should we rail against? Angel Clare for the “hard deposit” in his unforgiving soul; Alec whose rape elides the tender romance; or Hardy who knew beforehand and deliberately plotted Tess's end? One of the readers was so exercised that she wrote a verse to assign the blame.

 

Zakia, Talitha, Soma, Rini, Amita, KumKum, Priya, Thommo, Joe

For a full account click below.

Rabindranath Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary - 10: Short Stories

Buddhadev Bose in an essay on Tagore's stories wrote:

All of Bengal can be found here. Not only facts, but her living soul: we feel her pulse as we turn the pages of galpaguccha.

Others have pointed out the accuracy of the stories as social documents. William Radice, a modern translator (Rabindranath Tagore – Selected Short Stories, Penguin Books) says:

Tagore's capacity for scepticism, mockery, and hard-headed rationality contributes just as much to his realism as does his awareness of grief and suffering.

Three enthusiasts (Soma and KumKum of the KRG, and Padmanabha Dasgupta) have devoted themselves in this 150th anniversary of Rabindranath's birth to reading and examining fifteen of his stories. Their commentary on the first five selected (Nashta Neer, Streer Patra, Monihara, Konkal and Kshudito Pashan) follows below.

Rabindranath Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary - 9: Essay by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

I conclude this series of posts about Rabindranath Tagore on his 150^th birth anniversary with the essay of the philosopher, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first Vice President of the Indian Republic. It is in the same volume from which Jawaharlal Nehru's essay is taken:

http://kochiread.blogspot.com/2011/04/rabindranath-tagores-150th-birth.html

namely, the Centenary collection of essays published in 1961 on the occasion of the poet's 100th birth anniversary by the Sahitya Akademi in New Delhi.

Radhakrishnan observes that Tradition is not only concord with the past but also freedom from the past. Tagore, says Radhakrishnan, perceived relationships hitherto unnoticed and gave humanity his vision of one world. “His great gifts of imagination and art were used for fostering faith in the unity of man and forging bonds of kinship with others.”

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

He quotes Tagore about The Spirit India: ‘I love India, not because I cultivate the idolatry of geography, ... but because she has saved through tumultuous ages the living words that have issued from the illuminated consciousness of her great sons.'

On Rabindranath's philosophy Radhakrishnan says the poet “did not claim to produce an original philosophy. His aim was not to analyse or speculate about the Indian tradition. He expressed it in his own vivid phrases and homely metaphors and showed its relevance to modern life.”

In a previous post dealing with Tagore's religious attitude,

http://kochiread.blogspot.com/2011/04/rabindranath-tagores-150th-birth_20.html

his own statements show that Tagore claims no original insight, but merely confirms what the best minds have thought centuries before. Yet, each in his own time must attain that realisation herself/himself. Tagore's words affirming a poet's receptiveness to God in the delight of the world and its creatures is recorded in these words:

if ever I have somehow come to realise God, or if the vision of God has ever been granted to me, I must have received the vision through this world, through men, through trees and birds and beasts, the dust and the soil.

In conclusion, Radhakrishnan quotes a letter to Gandhi the poet wrote on 12 April 1919, with the following invocation:

Give me the supreme courage of love, this is my prayer, the courage to speak, to do, to suffer at thy will, to leave all things or be left alone. . .

Read Radhakrishnan's entire essay by clicking below.

Poetry Session May 6, 2011: Rabindranath Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary - 8

Rabindranath Tagore as a young man

Although the attendance was sparse the celebration of the anniversary of Rabindranth Tagore was central to this Poetry session.

Thommo & Priya before the Poetry reading

Private translations were provided. Besides, translations by poets like William Radice added a new verve to the poetry of Rabindranath; his copious notes enhance the appreciation of certain poems.

Soma read Sonar Tori (The Golden Boat) by Rabindranath

Even the lyrics of a song (Rabindrasangeet) were adduced as worthy poetry, combining the musical and poetic genius of Rabindranath for an unforgettable effect.

Thommo, Priya, and Bobby follow Soma's reading

Here are the readers posing, happy as a flock of mynas, at the end.

 The Happy Six (Soma, Priya, Joe, KumKum, Thommo, Bobby) at the end of the reading

For a full account read the record that follows.

Rabindranath Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary - 7

Gora by Rabindranath Tagore

Novel lovers display their enthusiasm in many ways. They hold seminars and non-stop reading sessions, or they enact the story on stage, and go on tour. Enthusiasts of Moby Dick, for example, hold a Marathon non-stop reading of the novel in New Bedford, Massachusetts, annually on Jan 3 starting at noon and ending next evening. It is sponsored by the New Bedford Whaling Museum:

http://www.whalingmuseum.org/prog/marathon.html

The dates celebrate the anniversary of Herman Melville's departure from the port of New Bedford aboard the whaleship Acushnet in 1841. About 150 readers take part, including several in non-English languages:

For the Tagore 150th birth anniversary a band of readers in Bengali have chosen to read the novel Gora by Rabindranath Tagore individually to pay tribute to the unique manner in which the novel reflects the ethos of a period when a nationalism was being reborn in India. At the same time it reflects Rabindranth's considered political, moral and educational ideas, so well articulated in his essays, through real dialogue among characters set in the era. The novel also reflects the beginnings of women's liberation from male patriarchy.

In what follows individual readers set down their appreciation of Gora, and reflect on what makes it so distinctive a work in the oeuvre of Rabindranath.

The first response is by KumKum Cleetus which you can read below; Padmanabha Dasgupta and Soma Kanjilal have added theirs. More will follow.