Poetry Session – Nov 11, 2011

 Thommo, KumKum, Talitha, and Soma

Ten readers recited verse by poets of six nationalities, three each from India and USA, and one each from Scotland, England, Palestine, and Chile. Only two (from Scotland and India) are contemporary poets, the rest belonged to the twentieth century, with one exception.

Sivaram, Gopa, and Zakia

Readers introduced poets of rare skill who are not widely known outside their circles; this contributed to the exhilaration of hearing novel voices.

Talitha, Soma, Bobby, Sunil, and Mathew

Here is the happy group at the end of the session. Bobby was behind the lens.

Sivaram, Joe, Soma, Zakia, KumKum, Talitha, Gopa, Thommo, Sunil, and Mathew

To participate vicariously in the recitations and discussions that took place on the once-in-a-century day, 11/11/2011, click below.

Animal Farm by George Orwell – Oct 28, 2011

Animal Farm First Edition Cover

Animal Farm is perhaps the most popular and widely translated of the books by George Orwell. Its relevance continues unabated because leaders in democracies, no less than in autocracies, continue to behave in the ways satirised in the novella.

 Priya and Soma

When his first wife, Eileen O'Shaughnessy, died in 1943, Orwell left London and went to the Hebrides Islands and worked there on Animal Farm from Nov 1943 to Jan 1944. He published it (after initial rejections from several publishers) in 1945 as the war was coming to an end.

Mathew, Sunil, Samuel, Bobby, and Sivaram

The themes of Animal  Farm cover a large canvas: Rebellion, Regime Change, Propaganda and Duplicity, Violence and Terror as Means of Control, Exploitation, Human Rights, Obsequiousness, Silent Acceptance of Despotism, etc. These themes were discussed, with illustrations from global and local politics.

Priya, Thommo, KumKum, and Talitha

 KRG welcomes four new readers in our midst. Here they are with the others gathered for a group photograph:

Thommo, Talitha, Soma, KumKum, Priya, Gopa, Bobby, Samuel, Sunil, Mathew, and Sivaram

To read a full account of the discussions and the readings, please click below.

Postponed Poetry Session held on Sep 29, 2011

The attendance at this session was scanty, although it had been postponed once for the same reason. However, the session was extraordinarily intimate. Two English poets, an American and a Spanish poet were recited; three were men, and one a woman.

KumKum, Talitha, and Thommo

We are resolved to get a few more committed readers in order to enjoy the customary liveliness the sessions have always had. The next will be on Oct 28, 2011 to read Animal Farm by George Orwell.

The question of art and science, and whether a scientist may have the same refined appreciation of nature and poetry as an artist came under discussion. Eugenics too was a subject of debate. Here are the foursome at the end:

KumKum, Talitha, Thommo, and Joe

In order to read the complete account click below ...

The Kite Runner - August 12, 2011

Many thanks to Priya who provided this account of the session. It was a highly enjoyable reading with seven members present.

 Bobby holds forth as Zakia, Talitha and Minu listen

Some felt that the book had too many coincidences designed to result in the right outcome. But all agreed the writing was very good and at times, even lyrical. 

The book deals with many subjects: the break up of Afghanistan, ethnic hostilities between the Pashtun and Hazara communities, gender inequalities, the Soviet invasion and the rise of the Taliban. 

 Minu, Priya, Talitha, Sivaram, and Thommo

The readers thought The Kite Runner was ideal for a Bollywood Box Office hit and they chose actors from the industry who might play the roles.

Welcome back to Sivaram who attended after a lapse of two years.

To read more click below.

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.