A great poet and a great writer.

Our beloved poet is no more. A poet does not die .Long live the poet. Yet a vacuum is created in many lives. It is a personal loss for me. I never met him yet he was no stranger to me. I had grown up with him and lived with him through his thoughts and ideas till this day -my middle age, and hopefully will live with him till I die. Our poet was not just a poet . He had spread himself in novels, short stories , weekly columns , essays . I will miss his weekly write-up in ABP . Reading him was like being in conversation with him. As if he was speaking to you . I will miss his warm presence at bookfairs , on various city forums , in television coverages, his opinions , his speeches. The poet was our own. You knew him even if you had never met him personally. My dad and I were great fans of his travel writings. He could make such writing so lively by simple observations and by his great fluid style.

Newspaper reports tell that there has been a huge demand for the poet’s works since he died. I have also been trying to beat my sorrow by going back to his poetry.





We grew up with Nillohit in our youth and every festival number from the ABP group was eagerly awaited by idle dreamers like me. Nillohit captivated us. Those were the heydays of Desh the dominant ABP weekly magazine . For years we were equally mesmerised by his mega historical novels serialised in Desh magazine. We were hooked, not a single issue could be missed ,to be discussed and debated thereafter.

“ Shei Somoy”(Those Days) and “Prothom Alo”(First Light) both are classics in their own rights and have been translated . Both these works opened up a new world - a world untrodden for ages -to thousands of readers like me. We became his diehard admirers forever. He was a guru to a generation of poets and writers . I personally like him for the simplicity of his language both in poetry and prose. It is not always easy to understand poetry . However even ordinary readers like me could appreciate and enjoy his poetry . Such was the beauty of his writing.

Let the world be blessed with more poets like him.

Ref/ Acknowledgements:

http://www.amazon.com/Those-Days-Novel-Sunil-Gangopadhyay/dp/0140268529

http://www.sunilgangopadhyay.org/book2.html

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/east/bengali-writer-sunil-gangopadhyay-dead-581

Ban this book : What to read and what not to read that is the question

Talibans exist everywhere , they exist in people’s mind.The Malala incident is an eye opener and once again reinforces the power of the written word. Pen is mightier than the sword . Who would have thought that an innocent children’s book could create such a storm – a storm in the tea cup rather . The book in question is Timothy Knapman’s “ My adventure island” . A young father had borrowed the book from the library for his five year old son . The child had asked questions which you would expect any normal child to do. Now the over zealous parents had analysed the questions and come to the conclusion that the book was most unsuitable for their child. Next came the demand, placed to the shocked library authorities – remove the book from the collection.

I was compelled to read the book by public demand and I loved it. The book is part of this year’s Reading Challenge programme which is an annual reading event specially designed for children organised by the Reading Mission, UK. Every year there is a new theme and this year’s theme is Story Lab .Well the book is a fun book with lovely illustrations and a sweet message at the end. A little boy imagines doing all those naughty things in an imaginary island which he is otherwise forbidden to do – such as picking his nose, eating unhealthy stuff ,playing all day, not washing and living with a stink etc etc. Now how could these simple fun ideas influence and corrupt a child’s mind I had no clue. Fortunately I discovered that not all parents thought alike. Why have a censorship board at home – remarked another parent to my big relief. Another parent wrote on my FB status “The writers perhaps never realised in their wildest dreams that their material could cause such a flutter and debate among a certain class of readers who were never meant to read this book in the first place”.

Another lovely book which I could not resist reading was Neil Gaiman’s “The day I swapped my dad for two gold fish”. Dave Mckean’s brilliant illustrations make the book magical. The book reminded me of a Russian book which we used to treasure in our childhood days “When daddy was a little boy”. Gaiman’s note at the end of the book is equally fascinating. The book was conceived after a real life situation which Gaiman faced when his son was a small boy.

The story is about two children who swap their dad for two gold fish and then are sent by their mom to bring him back. While doing so they discover that their dad has changed hand several times and this sets them on a journey through different adventures. A remarkable book very lively and again full of fantasy and romance.

I have always been a big fan of British designers and specially book designers and illustrators. Books themselves are so colourful that you do not require any additional props when you are planning a thematic display in a public space. This simple display (pic )speaks for itself. I plan to read some more books from the Story Lab collection.

Ref:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-adventure-Island-Timothy-Knapman/dp/1407115235

http://www.amazon.com/Day-Swapped-Dad-Two-Goldfish/dp/0060587032

The Gathering by Anne Enright, Jonathan Cape

Anne Enright’s The Gathering is not an easy read. At least that is the way I felt .I had to struggle with the book. The language is fine for a non-native reader. It is the way the thoughts are presented and the manner in which the story progresses if at all you can call it a story .It is more of a narrative. Why did I choose to read it any way? Simply because I wanted to find out more about the book which pipped “Mister Pip” to win the Booker in 2007.Well I frankly did not understand why it did .The only reason could be the book is more complex and written somewhat in a stream of consciousness style . The book will appeal to a more sophisticated reader.

The story is set in Ireland and tells the story of the Hegarty clan. The father a staunch Catholic does not adopt birth control measures and sires many offsprings .The mother goes through several miscarriages and finally nine children survive .The story revolves round Eliza and her grief at the death of her beloved bohemian brother Liam. Liam’s tragedy is traced back to his abuse at the hands of a sick old man during his visit to his grandparents’ house as a small boy. Their grandfather Charlie lost his house to this man who was his friend and who lusted after his wife, in a bout of gambling.Charlie was a habitual gambler and always in love with his wife. Exploited psychologically and physically Liam grows up with a fractured mind and eventually commits suicide by drowning himself in the sea.

It is a family epic, a tale about the life and times of almost four generations in a family .Eliza tells the story of her grandmother Ada and her husband, her parents, her own life and Liam’s life and briefly touches the lives of her children Rebecca and Emily. The strength and depth of the brother sister bonding comes forcefully across. All other relationships seem momentary and based on sexual transactions with no real meaning or understanding between two individuals. Life is seen and interpreted through the experiences and perceptions of the central character in the novel. At times trying to piece the different elements of the story together becomes a bit confusing.

I enjoyed moments like these. Liam tells his father you are a f…..ing baboon . “ A drinker does not exist .Whatever they say , it is just the drink talking." “We pity our mothers what they had to put up with ,in bed or in the kitchen and we hate them or worship them but we always cry for them….” .“ Or once , I remember some afternoon when he sat at the end of the bed in the white curtains’ light, and he looked like someone I knew from the beginning , whenever the beginning might have been. "

Ref:


http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0802170390/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0&isremote=0

Mister Pip by Llyod Jones

I  first heard about the book from a Scottish trainer who was then working as a consultant for the local government . I had forgotten about it though I knew it was available in the library. However when a senior professor of English left the book  on my desk with a recommendation  last week ,I took it home with me that very day. I loved the story . Mister Pip is a magical story full of romance, mystery, suspense, surprises and above all a story of love,faith and hope. Written in simple language it is a powerful story with lot of subtle nuances.

The story of Mister Pip is set in Bougainville an island in Papua New Guinea during the period when the island was rocked by civil wars . Mr Watts the only white man left in that village decides to educate the island’s small children who are left with nothing. Mr Watts or Pop Eye has a black wife Grace whom he carries around in a trolley . Nobody knows anything about him .Yet Mr Watts becomes a teacher who lovingly teaches the children to imagine a life beyond their humble surroundings . He uses the story of Pip in Dickens’ Great Expectations in his own style and inspires the kids to think and dream . The book tells the story of Matilda  who grows up to  become a scholar and an expert on Dickens. When Mr Watts is murdered and Matilda’s mother is raped and gives up her life to protect her daughter from being raped  by the rebels, Matilda  loses the will to live. It is Pip’s story that indirectly saves her and revives her faith in life .Eventually Matilda moves to Australia and is reunited with her father . She traces bits of Pop Eye’s past life which had  been kept as a secret from the islanders . ‘Mister Pip’ celebrates the wonderful emotion of love in so many ways -Pop Eye’s love for the black woman uproots him from his known white  surroundings and forces him to live a life in  exile , Matilda’s mother gives up her life to save her daughter’s honour and life , Matilda’s father plans to celebrate her birthdays with cakes for each year that he has lived away from her . The book narrates the  extreme poverty of an isolated  community in the throes of war , the savagery of rebels who can hack and chop human beings at will and the helplessness of human beings in the face of terror. ‘Mister Pip’ is a beautiful commentary on how a sincere teacher can inspire and become instrumental in transforming society and lives of its inhabitants .‘Mister Pip’ also celebrates the power of storytelling and the creative genius of a novelist like Charles Dickens.

The book figured in Man Booker’s 2007 shortlist. It won the Commonwealth Prize . Llyod Jones is a writer from New Zealand. Read the story if you can . 

Ref:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mister-Pip-Lloyd-Jones/dp/0719564565

Three cups of tea , by Greg Mortenson . Viking .

The recent controversy surrounding Greg Mortenson’s book was unknown to me when I started reading it. A professionally qualified nurse, a mountaineer, a dreamer, champion of women’s education and a philanthropist the writer had all the right combination to motivate me to read his story. The story is about an American mountaineer who loses track in an attempt to scale Mount K2 and finds himself in a god forsaken land in Pakistan. The inhabitants of this remote region extend their warm hospitality to this strange American, nurse him for days and bring him back to life from the brink of death.  The American is overwhelmed by this experience and promises to build a school for the hapless inhabitants. The story then moves on to Greg’s fascinating journey through the interiors of Pakistan and Afghanistan, his dogged efforts to gather funds from rich American donors, his numerous encounters with local customs and traditions till he finally completes his mission by building not one but several schools and vocational centres  in the remotest parts of Pakistan.

The Baltis are mountain people who populate the least hospitable high altitude valleys in Northern Pakistan. They had originally migrated from Tibet six hundred years ago and their Buddhism was replaced by Shiite Islam. They retained their language an antique form of Tibetan. The book beautifully captures details of the Balti way of life . The people are extremely poor but warm and hospitable. Over the years Haji Ali the village headman becomes almost like a father to Mortenson.  Mortenson writes  ‘If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways. The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die. Doctor Greg, you must take time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated but we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time.’ That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in my life. We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly…Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.”

Mortenson was in Pakistan during the the attack on twin towers. He ignored repeated government warnings issued to American nationals in Pakistan to move out of the troubled country and  continued with his travel and  work in the remotest corners of Pakistan .The atmosphere was all charged up yet the manner in which ordinary villagers welcomed him and women prayed for the well being of Americans terror struck in a “village called New York” by placing eggs on his palm touches your heart. For Mortenson these people were family .The words of the religious head, ashamed of such an un-Islamic act committed by the Talibans, addressed to the masses of tearful villagers, expressing his gratitude towards Mortenson and his fellow Americans ,can only reiterate one’s faith in the inherent goodness of the human soul. That true religion never preaches violence is reinforced once again through the simple gestures of these poor villagers and their wise leader.

Greg has been accused of falsifying facts, telling lies and misusing funds. However all that came much later .The story is about Greg’s initial days of struggle and the hardships he faced in chasing a dream and his final triumph over all adversities. Even if there is lot of fiction in what he wrote the story can be enjoyed just for the sake of the engrossing human narrative. The descriptions of the Karakoram ranges are haunting .No wonder it became such a bestseller and sold millions of copies. Read the book if you are interested in mountain life and believe in every woman’s right to education. A person like Greg Mortenson will always be my hero

Ref: Image above from

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Cups-Tea-Greg-Mortenson/dp/0141034262

To the end of the Earth: The race to solve Polar exploration’s greatest mystery/ Tom Avery, Atlantic Books

For a change I picked up this book on Polar expedition. Normally I am not too fascinated by sports writing and adventure sport is something far far removed from the staid and boring life I am used to. However not a bad choice given the atmosphere outside which at the moment resembles a raging furnace. Kolkata is boiling and at least in imagination for a while I was being transported to the land of ice and snow whenever I was travelling with Avery in the Polar terrain. Almost over hundred years ago after a daring explorer Robert Peary had announced his conquest of the North Pole and was widely disbelieved, Tom Avery a British explorer decides to make a bid for the North Pole following Peary’s route and methods. Avery being a Peary fan wanted to vindicate the great man’s position which to date is shrouded in mystery. He betters Peary’s record and returns convinced about Peary’s achievements. The tale is engrossing.

The first hand narrative captures in great detail – the “awe inspiring scenery “,”the deafening silence” ,”the raw beauty of Mother Nature” , the” wickedly cruel ,breathtakingly beautiful  wilderness” ,the numerous pressure ridges to negotiate, the extremely arduous nature of the trip, the extraordinary strength of the dog teams who pulled the wooden sleds , the spirit of teamwork and the bonding between man and animal , the occasional frictions amongst team members ,the resilience of the human body and its capacity to withstand extreme climatic conditions , the use of snow bath to cleanse the body and the use of a pee bottle by men  , the sudden encounter with dogs who run away with the toilet roll but lick up the man to clean him up in exchange and many  such captivating incidents fill up the book of  just over 300 pages. Equally fascinating is the story about Peary’s determination to be known as the conqueror of North Pole and the numerous spats between Peary and his adversary and fellow explorer Dr Frederick Cook, who tried to upstage and defame him on several occasions.

Why do some people undertake such hazardous missions in life? For people like Avery it is simple – he enjoys doing it. For people like Peary it was sheer ambition to become a trail blazer. North Pole is now promoted by tour agents who fly tourists to the spot for a fortune. At the summit Avery and his team were greeted by champagne swilling Portuguese tourists who had been flown in from the Ice Station Barneo. The eco-system that existed during Peary’s time no longer exists and the Arctic ice is fast disappearing due to increasing global warming. Avery raises his concern against this impending catastrophe faced by human civilization.

The book is a good read for people who want to know more about the North Pole and also for those who want to know more about adventure sports and about how such expeditions are planned and  organised. A literary writer can only do justice to the romantic beauty of the place.

Two books by J M Coetzee ,Vintage

Youth 

Youth is a story about a young man who leaves his home in South Africa and comes to England to study .The protagonist dreams of becoming an artist but gets entangled into living a solid life – regular  job , assignments , home .Solidity is his Achilles Heels. He initially joins IBM. But IBM he can swear, is killing him, turning him into a zombie. He is in the world of business and in the world of business one does not need to be polite. He quits  IBM . Works for another computer company which allows some scope for creativity and innovation .He discovers something outside American culture which was their staple food in South Africa. I was pleasantly surprised to discover references to India and Indian culture . He watches and experiences the magic of  Ray’s Apu  trilogy  – the music grips him. He explores further and is enchanted by Ustad Vilayat khan’s music.

He makes Indian friends. He dines with a South Indian couple .Meets Ganapathy the computer wizard who is too lazy to cook and eats bananas to survive .

There is lot of confusion about love ,sex ,life .The young man finds no real passion for any woman and gets involved in casual relationships  which frustrate him. “ If he is a mystery to himself how can he be anything but a mystery to others. “

Youth is part autobiographical and recounts the author's early days in England.

Life and times of Michael K 

Set in South Africa torn  by civil war  this  is the  story of Michael K a man born with a hare lip who is an object of pity and ridicule. Michael tries to take his ailing mother away from the city to the countryside where she was born . She dies on the way and Michael is left all alone in the world. She was the only person he loved in this world and the narrative captures beautiful moments of his many valiant efforts to make his mother happy. For example he slogs hard to make a cart which  he uses to take his sick mother around and to travel  from one place to another. After his mother’s death Michael is on his own and wants nothing from anyone but society will not allow him to do so. He is arrested several times and placed in camps , confinements but escapes to live life on his own terms. No papers, no  money, no family , no friends, no sense of who you are- the obscurest of the obscure – so obscure as to be a prodigy-that is what he is. Yet  he survives the war and lives in a world of his own . He is a simpleton but fiercely defends his independence . “People like Michaels are in touch with things you and I don’t understand”

The book won the Booker Prize in 1983.

Coetzee tries to explore the inner world of man in both the works. The language is simple and lucid .He won the Nobel Prize in 2003 and the Booker twice .

Ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee