Tuesday 19 February 2013

An Evening with Arvind Mehrotra

Arvind Mehrotra addressing the gathering at MIDS

Arvind Mehrotra, eminent poet, translator and literary critic, based in Mumbai, was in the city to give a series of lectures on Indian Writing in English. This evening at MIDS, he spoke extensively on eminent poet Arun Kolatkar within the framework of bilingual writers in India.

Tracing Arun Kolatkar’s tryst with poetry in the early 50s, Arvind Mehrotra said, “In the year 2004, he (Arun) gave me the list of poems he tried to write in both languages – Marathi and English, a line of Marathi followed by its English translation alternating in each line, which made Arvind Mehrotra himself marvel at this strange creature called “Arvind Mehrotra.” Hadn’t he written his English poetry, he’d have been a great artist

Friday 8 February 2013

Noble Ideas from Great Minds...

I happened to read Economy of Permanence by Dr. J. C. Kumarappa, [Mahatma Gandhi’s economist], who is credited with coining the term ‘Gandhian economics’, a remarkable school of thought based on Gandhism. This book was a sweet grab at the Chennai Book Fair this year, as I was simultaneously working on an ecocritical reading of an author close to my heart.

I was attracted more by the subtitle of this book which reads: “A quest for a social order based on non-violence”. Ecoenthusiasts, ecocritics and nature lovers alike have constantly emphasised the need for the creation of an ecocentric social order/world view that would be an alternative paradigm for the environmental problems of today. In the same vein, an alternative economic-social order based on non-violence merits a serious reading in itself, and more so, because, in today's world scenario, no economist would dare talk or write on such a topic, which, for him would be tabooo to the core!

The highlight of the book, is that, the great M. K. Gandhi himself has written the foreword for his close friend, with his signature affixed below it, and the words “On the train to Bombay, 20-8-1945” beside it.

Now, a few thoughts started disrupting my reading process. And, it so happened that, I discussed my thoughts on this book, at length with a few of my good colleagues, who augmented my 'apprehensions' in this regard. Hence this blogpost!

First of all, the plethora of knowledge emanated by these two great  visionaries and captured in these books, reflect, the sincerity and commitment of two great minds of the past, towards the cause of nation-building. In days when telephones and other communication facilities were quite a rarity, here are two great