Drama Unfolded at Gyan Manch

An evening of solitude. As is always the case with me that my evenings are always deprived of any good company, owing to the fact that I am too shy to have a girlfriend and all my friends are too busy with their girlfriends, I generally take different course of literary action to spend them. Yesterday (i.e. Nov 26th'08) was one such day. After getting off from the office in the evening and with no option to go anywhere, not understating my taste of literature, I headed towards the Gyan Manch to catch the ongoing Odeon Theatre Festival. It was a rare day at the festival when they were showcasing one of the most talked about dramas, one of the most controversial, the drama which changed the perception towards drama - Luigi Pirandello's 'Six Characters in Search of an Author". After getting in, I was seated comfortably amidst a crowd which comprises mostly of people from the Jadavpur University and some very sophisticated elderly crowd. Gradually and slowly as the play took its different twists and turns, it dawned upon me that the crowd around is more on the mission to keep their status symbol intact rather then to get into the intricacies of the ongoing play. Whispering went on and on and the subjects varied from attending some minister's party at the weekend to the new sari exhibition going on at Ice Skating Ring. Soon my eardrums couldn't distinguish between the enlightening words of the upstage and downstage, however to leave at the middle would have been a sure sign of a cultural proletariat. As far to speak about the drama and as per my eardrums could make it, one must say that the Troupe, which were made of the students of Jadavpur University English Department and directed by Prof. Ananda Lal, had done a fair job of it. It is always a great tradition with the aforesaid university that they nurture talent and showcase true art in its truest sense. Now, to get back to the play I would rather not comment on the interpretation of the actors, having not read the play myself, one shouldn't do that. I would say that the arrangements of the scenes and the acting gave an impression that the director (Mr. Ananda Lal) has done his homework very well. Rest of the reviews I would give once the festival is over and I am able to catch more plays. Till then stay tuned...........

Posted by Saurav Ranjan Datta

Non-sense and Non-sensibility

Huko-mukho Henglaa



Kumro-patash


As a lone child growing up alone, if there is one friend who has been a source of much mirth and amusement in those lonely hours it was undoubtedly my paperback volume of Abol Tabol (which literally means non-sense in bong slang) by Sukumar Ray. Such was his genius that he can still transport his readers to a fantastic trip and make them laugh out loud or giggle uncontrollably he is the versatile genius Sukumar.

Sukumar , from an early age, started dabbling in literary non-sense. He not only showed a superb talent for satires and humorous essays and stories but it was the nonsense verse through which his superhuman power of imagination came to fore. Over a brief lifetime (1887-1923) , he had created hundreds of poems in which he created a horde of imaginary but adorable creatures with absurd names and idiosyncrasies, characters with unique and extra ordinary descriptions. Be it the peerless "Ramgorurer Chana" , a group of creatures who have banned laughing or smiling in their domain, who avoid running into southern wind lest it tickles them into laughter and get a nervous breakdown when they detect the faintest hint of a smile on any face; "Kimbhut"(Wierdo) the amazing story of a nameless creature that desires qualities like elephants trunk, lion's roar, cuckoo's melodious voice etc and ends up with all these qualities. Or the one with the singing sensation "Bhishmalochan Sharma" who starts singing on a fine summer day and endangers all life and property with his powerful vocal cords- and he is finally put to a stop when an unappreciative ram decides to put a stop to the ordeal by forcefully charging into the maestro's behind . And these creatures, chraracters and incidents are described with such startlingly vivid and sincere descriptions and in such clever language that its diffucult to believe that they actually do not exist!

Tyesh-goru

As a child I remember that it was my window to a fantasy world where everything was possible and nothing was mundane. I can never get over the fun I had with such creatures as Kumropatash , Ramgorurer Chana , Teshgoru, Hukomukho Hengla and several other such characters who came alive in those verses and the superb sketches done by Sukumar himself. If you show the picture of any of the creations of Sukumar Ray to any well-read Bong of my generation or older, and he will immediately name the creature and even tell you which poem it belongs to. Such is the indelible impression it makes on a child's mind with seemingly effortless charm.

As an adult , you probably get to enjoy Sukumar's work even more- because now you can appreciate the barbs of satire and caricatures behind the innocent and non-sensical words and pictures. Ramgorurer Chana is a prime example of caricaturising the grumpy world of intellectuals who have banished fun and laughter from their livesl. My entire family, including my parents , wife and young nephews and niece just freak out on Sukumar Ray.

Ram-Gorurer Chana

Sukumar Ray has often been compared to Lewis Caroll and Edward Lear. But I firmly maintain that Lear was not even close to the league of Sukumar Ray in terms of sheer imaginative faculty and the diversity of the work he has done. Sukumar can make you fall out of your armchair holding or aching belly whereas Lear induces fleeting smiles . Also, Sukumar is way ahead in versatility . Caroll comes close enough, but in my humble opinion , falls short of matching Sukumar. I am a great admirer of Caroll and his "Alice in Wonderland" and other works( The joy of reading "The Walrus and The Carpenter" has been one of the most memorable experience of my childhood). But Sukumar's imagination is something that you just cannot fathom unless you read him in original Bengali.

Sukumar Ray's works- poems, plays and stories, have been translated several times including once by his illustrious son Satyajit Ray. But unfortunately a lot os lost in translation and since the beauty of the works lies to a great extent in the language and play on words that it is impossible to capture the full range of their charm in English or any other language. However, you may try our this link which has both Bengali originals and English translations of selected works by Sukumar. And also there is this book which you can try

(The pictures are illustrations by Sukumar from some his famous poems)

Posted by: Sid

Books for all seasons

Its an old story, the kid was not at all interested in any of the text books of his school. So the mother came up with an idea to give him comics and fairy tales to get him into the habit of reading. We in India don't actually gauge the intelligence of our moms to make a house a home, had they been given due importance and a voice, this country would have been a different place altogether.

Anyways that little brilliance from my mother not only opened an ocean of treasure in front of me, but also has given me a lifelong friend whom I cannot leave and who wont leave me easily under any circumstances. Books are truly a celestial gift to create a path of glory for humankind. They are the tools which would take the race to explore all its hidden unexplored magic. They are there with you for ever.

Posted by Saurav Ranjan Datta


Updated by Sid:
Its a brilliant and astute post from SRD!! We live in a moment of great despair in modern times when the reading habits among the younger populace is at its lowest . And it will be not be far off the mark to say that parents are largely to be blames for this sorry state of affairs. While there are arguments that kids have many more temptations , which are also far more exciting than reading a book in solitude. But that's only half-true. All said and done, its the way the parents shape the taste of their kids that really defines a kid's preference. I do not for a moment suggest that parents should be dictatorial and deprive the kid of picking and choosing his pastimes and hobbies. But I am sure there is a lot to be said in lovingly encouraging a child to the habits that will enrich his life for ever.-as our parents did when we were growing up. They bought us books, they read to us , they stoked our interest by narrating exciting tales from the epics and we just could not resist the temptation to read them in their entirety. That reading can still be exciting to kids is evident from the long queues one notices of children and their parents lining up at bookshops for latest Harry Potter releases. I am sure this passion can be encouraged to spread beyond Harry Potter as well.

Battling the shadow

For many years, I fought valiently for a noble cause, resisting the charge of the internet against good old books.

I grew up on books, and before I knew, they became an addiction. Later they proved to be more addictive than all the dry and liquid stuff consumed at high school and college days. In fact, to think about it, they were soporific (for the uninitiated, that’s sleep inducing) while the books proved to be stimulating.

To me, a large part of the recipe of the stimulation lied, apart from the content, in the process of reading, feeling, touching, and caressing. In fact, a new book often felt like a woman, a new woman in life. You have to handle her carefully, keep your senses open. Because you are reading her for the first time, you have to go slow, sometimes read between the lines. You feel her for the first time; her smell is new to you.

Perhaps, the best way to read her is to go to bed with her, once the initiation is over. Then you lie down with her, hold her really close to your bosom (ok eyes for the older, cant one ever get a little romantic?) and delve deep into her, loosing and finding yourself.

And Chris De Burgh after that, "And then, when it's over, I have tender hands, To hold you through the night, darling, My tender hands will hold you through the night."

I held on to the books and tried to breathe solace to my sad, womanless college days. And then, she changed into her new avatar.

The Internet came, saw and took prisoners. With the rest of the things, books changed to e-books. Reading, like dating, became virtual, open, subject to scrutiny, and untouchable (not in the Indian parlance though, that’s caste system and a whole hog of colonial baggage under the mattress). You no longer walk into a bar (read bookstore), spot her at the corner, eye her for sometime and then tentatively approach her. If you are lucky and skillful enough, conversation rolls on and might turn out to be an all nighter, testing all your skills. Now, you meet over the Internet, believe in what she says about herself ( and vice versa), and both try your best to convert the virtual into realty. And if you are lucky and willing to stoop that low, you two might even make out virtually. UGH.

Reading, no longer is lazing around with that book, carrying it with you all the time, going back to it again and again.. Now you google/yahoo/whatever on the internet, locate it, and read it on the screen, sitting bolt upright all the time. Your posture during work and pleasure becomes identical. You become a robot, a machined baboon. Days of lovemaking is over.

I, like many, revolted. I hung on to my paper books and perhaps even tried to justify my computer ignorance/aversion with my distrust to e/virtual reading materials. So while I saw my friends gathering information in a jiffy, I ploughed through the pile of books. E books were a strict no no, and I used the Internet mainly for sending mails. I felt like a crusader.

Then I changed job and my new job entailed a lot of use of the internet. Soon, I realized what is known as the information superhighway. I mean, I wanted to know about Impressionism and Monet in particular, and Wikipedia zindabad (that’s long live in Hindi). I wanted to know about the major poets of the romantic era, and I can find a list of them along with a list of their selected poems in a jiffy. Now I can take a printout of them and find them in my bookstore. I no longer have to rummage through the whole hog or seek help. That’s how I find the Internet useful. References, cross references and more references. I now use the Internet as the ultimate begetter of lost treasure and sunken ships.

I have struck truce. And it feels good. I still go to bed with a book, but now I know, at least have a vague idea about my latest valentine.

The battle is over.

posted by Ranjan

Preface...The First Step

"Book lovers will understand me,
and they will know too, that part of the pleasure
of a library lies in its very existence."
~ Jan Morris ~

It is with trepidation and loads of apprehension that I pen this post which is supposed to introduce our spanking new blog . When the idea first struck, the immediate responses that our collective minds generated was, in sequential order--
a) Great Idea!! But what are we going to do exactly?
b) Mmmm..all right! But would we be able to sustain it?

The answers were prompt to come
a) We will blog about our greatest passion , a love that we share in equal measure- books
b) We cant know till we start

But still apprehensions kept nagging at our minds regarding feasibility. None of us are professional writers and though yours truly has a blog of his own (which is updated with increasingly erratic frequency), but its a general platform for ranting and raving about everything under the sun( fittingly titled--"Ships and Shoes and Sealing Wax). But the new blog is to be devoted exclusively about our literary pursuits. None of us have any experience of that-- while each of us are quite proficient in our reading prowess, writing was something none of us ever took too seriously, especially book reviews and stuff!! We always thought reviewing books is an art best left to the artists who reveled in it.

However, as further thought was given , full 5 minutes of deep rumination, following conclusions were drawn-
a) A blog is our personal platform and as such we are not accountable to any one other than us , no editors breathing down our neck, no expectant mob of readers ready to pounce on every shred of wisdom(or banality) that we unship on them.
b)We have been reading since our childhood and the love for this quaint habit grows on us with each passing day and season. Surely we will have something to say? Surely we wont be stuck for words while describing something we know intimately? I certainly cant be total strangers to that volume of book that I took to my bed, caressed, loved and explored into till the wee hours ??
c)Who is going to judge the quality of our discussions/reviews/insights into our favourite book? Who is going to turn his nose when we reveal that we loved "The Da Vinci Code" as much as the latest offering from Amitav Ghosh? We own the blog and speak about what we like, dislike-- we can tell exactly why we thought a particular book is a gross waste of precious wood pulp even if the whole world thought it was the best afterlife possible for the forest . This is the space where we speak our minds..

So anybody reading this post must remember that everything written here is merely our thoughts , opinions and expressions. We would love to have as many as we can get of them as well. So if you feel there is something you want to talk about , or want to voice your disagreement or add more to what we speak about , or even start a new topic of your own, please mail us or leave your thoughts on the comments section and we will be delighted to hear from you as well.

Also, for the benefit of the readership( that we may hopefully gather in near future) let me warn again that none of the contributors to this blog are adept at writing and especially so on the topics they will be writing about. They may appear childish, immature, muddle-headed or even at time pose challenge to civilisation as we know it by comparing Shobha De to Salman Rushdie( not that we do, but we just might) . Readers discretion and occasional parental guidance highly recommended.

Best Wishes---
Sid