'When autumn strikes, we need to be prepared for the winter, the storms, the floods and the dark clouds – the season of mist. Our life goes through seasons too!'

'Surviving the Storm' | On Chaaru's Winter

Well, here goes my little take on Chaaru’s Winter: Survive the Storm and Withstand the Cold.

In fact, the subtitle in itself has oodles of incentives on offer for the reader, to launch oneself into the book full throttle.

I was equally intrigued when I chanced upon this lovely phrase on the subtitle, which reads, ‘Survive the Storm!’

Indeed, the word ‘storm’ brings to one's mind a battery of associations and significations that could connote anything from trauma, to violence, to agony, to physical violations, to terrorism, to war, to emotional upheavals, and to psychological troubles, etc.

Toni Cade Bambara’s experimental and maiden novel The Salt Eaters is a case in point. The story is about a bevy of seven sisters who are women of colour, drawn from diverse backgrounds, and are journeying towards the fictional town of Claybourne in Georgia, for an annual festival hosted by a community school there. 

The seven sisters have such vibrancy to their spirit and such dynamism to their souls that, they are so passionate and so alike in their dreams! A dream to change the world and to transform their society! And this they do, in their own little ways, by loving one another, helping one another, caring for one another, and supporting one another in their times of distress! As such, they also double up as both therapeutic healers and amazing artists touching lives and changing societies on the go!

The novel begins with Minnie Ransom, the famed, ‘fabled healer’ of the district, asking Velma, who has attempted suicide,

Are you sure, sweetheart, that you want to be well?

Velma Henry turned stiffly on the stool, the gown ties tight across her back, the knots hard. So taut for so long, she could not swivel. Neck, back, hip joints dry, stiff. Face frozen. She could not glower, suck her teeth, roll her eyes, do any of the Velma-things by way of answering Minnie Ransom.

In fact, the ‘well’ here could connote to mean the wellness of Velma, and of her entire community as well, which is bound to happen only if they could survive and come safe and secure, from the ‘storms’ they face in their lives – both literal and figurative ones!

Deep into the novel, now, Campbell could sense a storm brewing – this time a literal storm!

He wondered what effect the storm would have on the Brotherhood’s pageant, on the Academy’s procession, on the police’s program, on the vigilantes’ plans, and on his future. Something more than storm was up, he figured, rejecting the idea that ordinary lightning, thunder and rain could elicit so profound a response from everyone!

[In fact, the book has around fifteen ruminations and descriptions on storm in general, and through each of the ‘storms’ Bambara is subtly conveying a beautiful message to the reader, that, the storms in the lives of the people are a result of some personal hurt or trauma that they’ve been through.]

And hence, if there should be wellness in their hearts and minds, they ought to survive the storms, by all means! No spoilers though! This 1980 book is up for grabs on e-stores as well! So that’s the byline: Surviving the storms!

Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe would be our second case in point, in our discussion on ‘surviving the storm’!

The narrator, Crusoe himself, tell us, how, he had courageously withstood many storms, and mutinies on the violent sea decades back in time. However, the real test of his life had befallen him only in the year 1659 when a deadly storm had played havoc on sea and wrecked his ship. Crusoe finally finds himself marooned on the shore of a strange island! In this wretched, uninhabitable place, Crusoe had to think of various means of survival, and finally, after he had braved and survived both the literal storm at sea, and the metaphoric storm of survival in the desert land, he managed to return to England, fully well, after 28 long years.

Placing Chaaru’s Winter in this context of ‘surviving one’s storms,’ would sure make the reading more interesting, I bet!

And this claim is authenticated well enough with the epigraph to Chaaru’s book, that states, ‘The greater the tempest, the stronger you come out!’

In her authorial note that begins the book, Chaaru starts off on a conversational tone, saying,

We live in the ‘Age of Anxiety;! We have so many things to worry about and being mentally healthy is a blessing in today’s age amidst the ‘hazards of modern life’ – anxiety, depression, panic attacks and insomnia’

Later on, she has a note for the reader, when she asks,

Have you thought about getting out of the storm, stronger and smarter?

Then this book is for you!

When autumn strikes, we need to be prepared for the winter, the storms, the floods and the dark clouds – the season of mist. Our life goes through seasons too!

Chaaru ends her prefatory on a positive high, by quipping,

Let’s grow art out of all the holes left in our hearts.

On an added note, Chaaru has another interesting tagline to her profile – A caffeine addict! And well, this pure love for coffee seems to adorn quite a few of her 63 wonderful poems as well! Be it a passing reference to a coffee cup, a coffee shop, or just a cuppa coffee! It’s there, 'splashed' all across the pages! 

Chaaru’s lines have an amazing air of reality – a philosophical reality, that acts the trigger for finer ruminations and intense contemplations!

“… got to give it all up, the pain, the hurt, the anger and make room for lovely things to rush in and fill you full.” 

― Toni Cade Bambara, The Salt Eaters

Congratulations Chaaru!

Winter | Chaaru

Heartiest congratulations to Ms Chaaru, II MA English, MCC, on publishing her second book titled, Winter, with the reputed Emerald Publishers, Chennai, India.

Chaaru’s first novel titled, Summer was published just over a year ago, in 2018!

Well, I’ve just started reading Winter, and here’s hoping to give y’all a wonderful review to Charu’s Winter, latest by tomorrow!

Congratulations Chaaru! We are so proud of you! Keep up the spirit, and here’s wishing you all good luck and best wishes, to give us all many many more such impactful books in the years to come!

Winter will soon be available on all popular e-stores!

Literary delights and delicacies of 1988 at a glance!

1988 | In Literature 

The year 1988 has proved to be a very productive year in terms of its literary output, be it in the realms of the novel, or prose, or poetry, or criticism, or on theory!

Indeed, just a cursory glance at the plethora of ‘literary delicacies’ that are available for avid bibliophiles of all hues during this year, one could only be wonder-amazed at their immense variety, their diversity and their heterogeneity.

This post intends to highlight a few of the important literary accomplishments of the year 1988! This said, however, the list for 1988 is by no means exhaustive at all! Readers could always look up an authentic encyclopedia, to watch out for more literary delicacies that happened this particular year!

To begin with, it was in the year 1988 that Czech-born French writer Milan Kundera’s The Art of the Novel was published.

Well, Milan Kundera’s name and fame rests on his amazing literary feats, some of which have been discussed in our past posts HERE and HERE.

Nobel laureate and Pulitzer winner Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved was also published this year, in 1988.

Australian novelist Peter Carey’s famed novel titled Oscar and Lucinda, was awarded the Booker Prize this year in 1988. In fact, he also has the added honour of being one of the four writers to have won the Booker Prize two times! (A prospective contender for the Nobel too!)

Pakistani novelist of Gujarati Parsi descent, who is now settled in the US, Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel titled, Ice-Candy Man, based on the partition of Indian Sub-continent, was also published this year, in 1988.

Eminent Italian novelist, semiotician and professor Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum was also published this year, in 1988.

Booker winner, Salman Rushdie’s highly controversial fourth novel titled, The Satanic Verses was also published this year, in 1988.

Eminent Japanese-born British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel titled, The Remains of the Day and popular British novelist Roald Dahl’s Matilda were also published this very year, in 1988.

Famed Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist was also published this year, in 1988.

'How the world sees you will make only a small difference to you, but how you see yourself will make all the difference to you.'

On Making the Most of MYSELF | Emerson, Osho and Mahatria Ra 

Well, this post happened, thanks to a beautiful 'dp' template that i chanced upon, from off my cussy paapa’s profile picture, that i guess, sure proves such an invigorating tonic and a motivational shot for all of us to live by! Added, she has such a unique way of artistically designing beautiful 'display picture' templates that sync so beautifully with these wisened power-quotes!  More power to paapa! :-)

The quote again  for us all - 

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”

Made me ruminate much and do a profound ponder on the intensity and impact of this lovable quote!

This was the question that popped up so spontaneously and impulsively on me!

Do I make the most of myself?

Or

Do i make the worst of myself? by whiling away all my precious time, my precious resources, my precious hours, my precious days, my precious weeks, my precious months, my precious years, my precious money, my precious study time, my precious work-time, in the busy-idle company of vain, frivolous, good-for-nothing, time-passing, gossiping minds, or else on vain social networking sites, frittering away my individuality, my self-hood, my power, my time and my strength, that results in making the ‘worst’ of myself, when I have to be making the ‘most’ of myself?

Indeed, the famous Emersonian essay on “Self-Reliance” begins with a wonderful Latin quotation which goes thus: “Do not seek for things outside yourself.”

What a beautiful way of asking a person to celebrate a sense of ‘Self’ or have the 'courage to be yourself!

“Trust thyself” he says, and continues, “every heart vibrates to that iron string.”

An amazing thought, ain't it?

“The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude,” Emerson adds!

An individual hence becomes powerful or extraordinary, just by tapping into his or her inner strength, and not the other way round! Strong individuals make up a strong society, says Emerson, and adds to say that, this strong individual is a result of one’s strong, personal truths and convictions!

He also adds to say that, conformity is the most dangerous pathway that is anathema to the individual truth, and hence, “for non-conformity, the world whips you with its displeasure.”

It is in this context that Emerson gives out his most famous line ever: “To be great is to be misunderstood”, which means to infer that, to be great is to think beyond all previous boundaries of thought, or in the Ulyssean dictum, ‘To sail beyond the sunset, beyond the utmost bounds of human thought,’ something that would unnerve and give much unease to mediocre thinkers of all hues!

Using this wonderful aphorism of Emerson, that advocates believing in ourselves, or in celebrating ourselves, let us now go ahead and look at some literary allusions to augment the claims of Emerson!

First and foremost, let’s turn to eminent Indian spiritual guru Osho who talks about the three stages or steps in freedom, in his amazing read titled, Freedom: The Courage to Be Yourself!

The first stage of freedom is called a “freedom from,” a freedom that one receives by breaking free of the immense ‘psychological slavery’ that is forced and conditioned upon oneself by outside forces such as friends, parents, society or religion!

The second stage of freedom is called a “freedom for,” a positive freedom that one receives by embracing something and/or creating something: something like a fulfilling relationship, or focusing on some noble artistic or humanitarian vision.

And finally, there is the third stage of freedom that he calls, “just freedom,” which according to Osho is the highest and ultimate form of freedom. This freedom is much more than ‘being for’ or ‘being against’ something! It is the freedom one inherits simply by being oneself!

And this is exactly the type of freedom that Emerson advocates in his groundbreaking essay, ‘Self-reliance’!

Something akin to what Mahatria Ra, advocates in his series of motivational discourses! 

Giving y’all snippety-excerpts from his awesome discourse on ‘Being yourself’!

Mahatria Ra speaks -  

Only if you enjoy a good relationship with yourself, you can enjoy a good relationship with others. If you are too critical about yourself, if you have a complex about yourself, if you keep thinking ‘I am not good enough’, if you constantly feel low about yourself in the presence of others… when your own relationship with yourself is lousy, there is no way you can enjoy a good relationship with others.

The 'Inadequacies of Elitist Historiography!'

Notes on the Subaltern | Gramsci, Guha & Gayatri Spivak

Although the term ‘Subaltern’ was coined by Antonio Gramsci, as a method of intellectual discourse that identifies with social groups that have been excluded and/or displaced from the so-called ‘dominant centre,’ Ranajit Guha brought the term to greater prominence in the Indian context, advocating the need to formulate a ‘new narrative’, a narrative that would help reclaim the histories and the voices of the subjugated, marginalized classes!

In his prefatorial remarks to his remarkable compendium on Subaltern Studies I: Writings on South Asian History and Society, [writing from Canberra, in August 1981,] Guha informs the reader of the need to ‘rectify the elitist bias characteristic of much research and academic work’ in the field of subaltern studies, with special reference to history and society, which he feels, have always been complicit in the subaltern condition.

This edited volume contains scholarly articles from David Arnold, Partha Chatterjee, David Hardiman, Gyan Pandey, Shahid Amin and Ranajit Guha, the editor himself!

Ranajit Guha’s opening article titled, “On Some Aspects of the Historiography of Colonial India”, advocates a sixteen point plan that doubles up as a ‘strategy’ when  one studies the historiography of Colonial India, since he strongly feels that, the historiography of colonial India has almost always been dominated by elitism, colonial elitism, and bourgeois-nationalist elitism. This ‘inadequacy of elitist historiography’ is hence described by Guha as ‘un-historical historiography’!

This ‘sixteen point charter’ of Guha reminds us of Gramsci’s ‘six point plan’ for studying the history of the subaltern classes, which he outlines in his ‘Notes on Italian history’ (1934—35).

Moreover, this series in Subaltern Studies, in six volumes, (there were twelve in total, Guha having edited the first six of them!), has a wide range of essays pertaining to society, politics, economics, sociology and the history of subalterneity!

Although Guha had given us a structured rubric for the term ‘subaltern,’ it was Gayatri Spivak who, much later, in 1988, made the term quite accessible to academia worldwide. To begin with, Spivak had words of encomium and appreciation on Guha’s subalternist research venture, but at the same time, she minced no words in pointing out the overt male bias in their hitherto existing subalternist research, as almost every member of the Subaltern Studies collective was a male, and hence she felt that real life experiences of subaltern women were conveniently sidelined, sidestepped or even ignored in the process!

'A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy!'

On Motivation, Maslow and Self-actualisation!

The year 1954 has been such a productive year for all of literature! Indeed the literary output of this year has an amazing varicoloured potpourri of such diverse genres to its litty-kitty!

Some of the hot favourites in literature who’ve given us some endearing reads during the course of this flourishing year in literature, include, Kingsley Amis, who published his first novel titled, Lucky Jim, this year [1954].

Famed Irish novelist and Winner of the Booker Prize, Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net was also published this self-same year [1954].

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, saw its publication spree starting only from 1954 on!

Interestingly, Nobel Laureate William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies was also published this very year, in 1954.

Simone de Beauvoir’s famed roman-à-clef titled The Mandarins, in which her long-time partner Sartre and her friend Albert Camus adorn the novel with such curiously intriguing, invented names in the guise of Robert Dubreuilh and Henri Perron respectively, was also published this year, in 1954. So what is the invented name of Simone de Beauvoir, you may ask? No points for guessing! It’s another Dubreuilh, named, Anne Dubreuilh!

1954 also saw renowned Japanese director Akira Kurosawa giving us his epic samurai drama film titled, Seven Samurai! More on Akira Kurosawa on our past post HERE.

It’s quite interesting to note that, celebrated Booker awardee Kazuo Ishiguro was also born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954.

Eminent Oxford academic and novelist C. S. Lewis had also come up with his phenomenal intellectual treatise titled, English Literature in the 16^th Century during the same year, in 1954. [Added, his scholarly work on Milton titled A Preface to Paradise Lost is one of the most indispensable reference books on Paradise Lost till date!]

On the home front, Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve, her first published novel, which went on to be published in more than 18 languages worldwide, and became a quick best seller on the international arena, was also published this year, in 1954.

Yukio Mishima’s gripping novel titled, The Sound of Waves also saw publication, this year, in 1954. A preview to Yukio Mishima HERE on our same past post as well!

Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s favourite memoir of all time, from Peter Abrahams, titled, Tell Freedom was also published this year, in 1954.

[Well, on an aside, Thiong’o had once particularly singled out three marvelous and impactful works that have had a great influence on him. They are, George Lamming’s In the Castle of My Skin (1953), Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) and Peter Abrahams’ Tell Freedom (1954).]

Nigerian writer, Amos Tutuola, whose stories were almost always based on the Yoruba folk-tales, also published his My Life in the Bush of Ghosts an autobiographical novel in this very year, in 1954.

This apart, what gives this post an added wide-eyed coverage is the fact that, Maslow’s famed book on Motivation titled, Motivation and Personality was also published this year, in 1954. The germ of the book was originally published as a paper, almost a decade back in the famed Psychological Review.

This Maslow masterpiece of 1954 is much credited with popularizing the term, self-actualisation which has shot to prominence today in the fields of psychology, literature and related research.

Well, self-actualisation is defined as a person's desire to use all their abilities to achieve and be everything that they possibly can. It is also defined as ‘the psychological process aimed at maximizing the use of a person’s abilities and resources.’

One reason why self-actualisation tops the charts, and is on the highest level on Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs!

'If we are to have a rich and full life in which all are to share, our communal, spiritual and intellectual life must be distinctly higher than elsewhere!'

On Motivation, Truslow Adams and the American Dream

"Lincoln was not great because he was born in a log cabin, but because he got out of it ‑ that is, because he rose above the poverty, ignorance, lack of ambition, shiftlessness of character, contentment with mean things and low aims which kept so many thousands in the huts where they were born." - Truslow Adams

Motivation per se has been a great key to unlocking the power, the potential and the competence innate within anyone, anywhere, anytime! And that’s one reason, why teachers, professors and mentors all over the world, tell their wards to keep far far away from negative, pessimistic minds, minds who sincerely take upon themselves the task of moan, mutter and murmur, grumble, groan and growl, minds who always whine and whine, and in the process never see for themselves, the brighter, better things there are to life! These are people who will never have a word of appreciation or motivation for you anytime! And if you would observe hard, these are the very same people who would take the first stone or the first cudgel at you, or to throw eggs or rotten tomatoes at you, or to criticize you when you fumble or fall even a wee bit! That’s because, these minds are such bigoted minds, and utterly unmotivated minds, who wallow willfully in their pavapetta pessimism, and wish to remain so, all through their bitter, back-biting lives!

The vibrant, cheerful and motivated souls, on the other hand, ain’t ever bitter, but always make us feel better with their sweet lives for ensamples! And to be surrounded by positive, motivated and committed souls makes such a huge difference to our own kutty sweet lives on this planet, ain’t it?

And well, history has been host to a huge array of such motivated, positive and successful people down the ages, who have found such intense motivation in great leaders who’ve been able and noble visionaries themselves!

Benjamin Franklin (or Benji,) is one such visionary, whom I so respect, admire and adore, a visionary who is credited with having come up the ladder of success in his life, having started off on his noble path to success, with just a lone bread roll in hand, and utterly, totally penniless when he landed in Philadelphia in days past, as a poor, jobless youth!

He is also said to be one of the best exemplars to the ideals stated in the American Dream! As he himself tells us, he's lived his life according to an array of 13 rock-solid virtues that he firmly believed would lead him to great success.

Just a chosen few, among the many Virtues that he practiced are,

1. The Virtue of Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. The Virtue of Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. The Virtue of Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. The Virtue of Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. The Virtue of Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. The Virtue of Industry: Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. The Virtue of Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. The Virtue of Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. The Virtue of Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

10. Tranquillity: Be not disturbed at trifles. (if you hadn’t originally started the fire!) ;-)

What invigorating precepts and ideals to live by! To me, by far, Benji is one of the noblest human beings ever to have blessed this planet with his sweet presence, sweeter living and sweetest precepts!

And Benji’s Autobiography is such an awe-inspiring testimony not only to these virtuous ideals but also to the tenets of the American Dream!

Well, then, that takes us next to the American Dream!

James Truslow Adams, as we all know, has been originally credited with coining this famous term, American Dream in his 1931 book The Epic of America, a motivational book that seeks to highlight the philosophic vision of America in all its grandeur.

On the realities of migration, climate and technology...

'... Ghosh takes us into a world where desperate refugees trickle through borders like water from melting ice, but where massing animals find no escapes. This important novel is an account of our current world, the one few writers have had the courage to face'

- Annie Proulx

Get your copy of Gun Island signed by Amitav Ghosh this evening!

STARMARK and Penguin are hosting the signing event of the book Gun Island by Mr. Amitav Ghosh.

20th June, 2019 | 5. 30 pm | Express Avenue Mall, Chennai

PS: For those of y'all who long to listen to snippets from Gun Island read out by the author himself, even months ahead of its grand release, you may click on this YouTube link HERE. I couldn't upload the full video here. Here's hoping to do it asap! 

'Thought once awakened does not again slumber!'

On the Able Sage of Chelsea!

In the true literary man there is thus ever, acknowledged or not by the world, a sacredness; he is the light of the world; the world's priest - guiding it, like a sacred pillar of fire, in its dark pilgrimage through the waste of time. - Carlyle

From Emerson, the Noble Sage of Concord, let’s now move on to Carlyle, the Able Sage of Chelsea!

Apropos our deliberations on Thomas Carlyle vis-à-vis the importance of the year 1836, a defining year in the annals of literary history that saw a literary torrent of sorts, me thought it meet - to mince and to munch - more on this Sage of Chelsea, who also tripled up as a historian, an essayist and a biographer of his times!

Carlyle’s annual lectures were later published under the title, On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History in 1841. In this series of six profound lectures, Carlyle brings out the uniqueness that underlies the personalities of heroic men replete with heroic vitalism.

To Carlyle, history is all about the making of heroic men or women, who are bestowed with the most excellent gifts and powers of vision and of action! Since his age lacked a person of a heroic mould, he only wishes that people of a true heroic vitalism and temperament should step forward, in the interests of society, to lead the people, who are like sheep without a shepherd. (We should also remember that, the 19^th century was an age when belief in the Divine was at its lowest ebb ever!)

Only a person of a heroic mould - he quite feels - could shake the masses out of their stupor and lead society to its acme of dynamism!

Some of the immortal quotes that have taken the minds and the hearts of his avid readers by storm, are reproduced below –

The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.

Men of letters are a perpetual Priesthood, from age to age, teaching all men that a God is still present in their life; that all "appearance," whatsoever we see in the world, is but as a vesture for the "divine idea of the world," for "that which lies at the bottom of appearance." In the true literary man there is thus ever, acknowledged or not by the world, a sacredness; he is the light of the world; the world's priest - guiding it, like a sacred pillar of fire, in its dark pilgrimage through the waste of time.

Thought once awakened does not again slumber.

Nay, in every epoch of the world, the great event, parent of all others, is it not the arrival of a Thinker in the world?

Do not Books still accomplish miracles, as Runes were fabled to do? They persuade men. Not the wretchedest circulating library novel, which foolish girls thumb and con in remote villages!

All that mankind has done, thought, gained, or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books.

From 1834 onwards, Carlyle was working on his monumental work, The French Revolution. This period enabled him to meet up with great literary minds of all hues, including Wordsworth, Southey, and Sterling, with Sterling or John Sterling topping his list of hot favourites!

His Sartor Resartus published in 1836, is one of his most enigmatic works ever! It’s really impossible to pigeon-hole a book of this complexity, into any one particular genre as such! It deals with the life of a fictional German philosopher and academic.

to be continued…

image: amazondotcom

On the Dominant ‘sage’ of the American imagination!

On the Noble Sage of Concord

If Rousseau’s Emile envisages a wonderful pattern or a benchmark for the education of children, an education that goes the Krishnamurti way, through the Nature connect, Emerson’s phenomenal work titled, Nature, published first in 1836, nurtures in American hearts an exemplary rubric for restoring the human-nature-god connect, which, to him, and a host of transcendentalists of his ilk, was lost somewhere down the way!

In other words, Emerson’s Nature, was also an exemplary benchmark of sorts, for it eulogises in such beautifully evocative language, the aesthetic, the spiritual and the practical advantages there are, to the American landscape, or in other words the benefits of the human-nature-god connect vis-à-vis the American landscape!

Interestingly, the year 1836 is memorable on many other counts too!

It was the year Carlyle published his Sartor Resartus and his subsequent The French Revolution: A History happened the next year, in 1837.

Very soon Thoreau got impacted by Carlyle and his Carlylisms, and subsequently went on to write a lovely bubbly essay that eulogises Carlyle and his oeuvre, on the title, Thomas Carlyle and His Works, in which, praising Carlylisms, he says, “He (Carlyle) does not go to the dictionary, the word-book, but to the word-manufactory itself”. Moreover, the Charles Dickens - Carlyle connect is so well-known for all to see!

And that’s another coincidence that Charles Dickens published his Sketches by Boz in the same year! (1836) Let’s also not forget the fact that Boz (Dickens) got married to Catherine Hogarth, only because of the astounding success of his Sketches! Added fact is that, Sketches by Boz remains his first published book ever!

Coming back to Emerson, who is fondly referred to as the ‘Prophet of the American Religion’ by Harold Bloom,

Well, the Emerson impact on a generation of writers is then not quite a surprise though! Thoreau took a leaf out of Emerson’s book when he made his observations of Nature much more concretised, like there was to the Hegel – Marx duo!

Whitman, in his Leaves of Grass gave poetic wings to Emerson’s clarion call for a return to Nature! Furthermore, the Emerson – John Muir connect is yet another pivotal topic for much interesting deliberation that needs more elucidation, albeit on a later post!

“The one YOU feed," replied grandpa!

On Words | Personal Reflections - IV

After reading chunks of precious inspirational nuggets gleaned from the masterspirits like Jidduji, Swami Vivekananda, Norman Vincent Peale, Osho, Robert Schuller et al, one would positively and convincingly feel for oneself, with all confidence, that there’s as much power in your words, as much as there’s power in your blend! (your cuppa coffee, I mean!) ;-)

Balmy words, words seasoned with love, words that are so positive, have such therapeutic power to them, Ain't they?

Be it to a friend, to a lover, to a teacher, to a student, to a kith or kin, or to our pavapetta junior or our kovapetta senior, and even towards children, when we use words of hope, words of love and words of positivism, we would sure see for ourselves how 'words' swainggg have such power and such therapy to them! 

Yes! When we use words, which, according to the Tagorean immortal dictum, words that come out from the depth of truth, from the depths of the heart, we will never have even the littlest or slightest intentions on our hearts to wound others even a wee bit with our words!

For instance, when we use polite, gentle and refined words seasoned with love to anyone with whom we speak to, we help in gently bringing out the boundless humanity contained within that person!

On the contrary, when we use words seasoned with anger, they not only inflict pain on the person, but also tends to take away the boundless river of humanity contained within him/her in a moment's time or even lesser! 

We all know well the story of the grandpa who was teaching his grandson some seasoned, wisened words for life and living!

It goes on these lines - 

Well, there lived an old Cherokee grandpa, who had always wanted to teach his beloved grandson some seasoned, wisened values about life and living!

“A great fight is going on deep inside me,” said the grandpa to the boy.

“It seems such a vigorous fight and it is a fight between two wolves. 

One wolf is evil – he is anger, envy,and ego.”

Grandpa continued, “The other wolf is good – he is joy, peace and love!

The same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too,” he said.

The grandson, after having patiently listened to his grandpa, finally asks him, “Which wolf will win?”

“The one YOU feed," replied grandpa!

How true!

In short, when we treat a person cruelly, that means we treat them as lesser humans!

If ever we, practitioners of literature were advocates and votaries to these humane qualities, we would always treat our fellow human beings as much as we love ourselves our wish to be treated ourselves!

In this connect, let me share from memory, a film, that’s had such a great impact on me all of my life!

Yes! Of all the films I have ever watched, one film stands tall and stands high in my heart and soul, and I hope it would remain the best movie I have ever watched in all my life!

And that’s without a doubt, Anbe Sivam!

And please don’t try bringing up the metaphor of the two wolves, when I tell you that Nalla Sivam and Anbarasu are two conflicting personalities, the former an altruist, who loves human beings, while the latter (Anbarasu) is a self-centred egotist!

While Anbarasu is smart and young, he is quite self-centred and quite moody by nature, Nalla Sivam, on the other hand, inspite of being differently abled, and with such not-so-handsome looks on him, tries to spread happiness wherever he goes, every moment of his life!

There are any many scenes throughout the movie that trigger a tear on you all along!

One such scene that speaks to the power of positive words, is when, after the devastating accident involving a dog and the bus, many are killed, and only Nalla Sivam happens to have escaped, albeit with grievous injuries! In the next frame, he’s admitted in the ICU Ward, when Nasser and co appear there, and asks the duty nurse who’s attending on him, ‘Will Nalla survive?’

The nurse-sister replies, ‘Speak only positive words to him. Speak lovingly to him. Don’t talk for long. Only ten minutes! But please give him some hope!’

What beautiful words! What lovely words that ooze with such positivism!

In yet another scene, on the train journey, Anbarasu deliberately shuts out Nalla Sivam from the train in which they are travelling, (when Nalla gets down to fetch some water) and subsequently, loses all his belongings to a fraudster ironically named Uthaman, on his train journey! He soon hears the news from the TTE that the previous train had met with a huge accident and hence their train will be stranded right there on the tracks midway!

Now, Anbarasu gets down from his compartment, and walks all the way to see for himself, for the first time, the horrors and the intense magnitude of the devastating train accident right in front of his own eyes! He’s much troubled and much agitated within himself! Amongst the din and the commotion, amongst the heckle and the noise, a doctor could be heard shouting out earnestly for anybody with AB negative blood on them for a badly injured boy. Nalla immediately calls to the doctor's attention his unwilling friend Anbarasu, who's all along had a strong aversion for the very sight of blood! 

Anbarasu is now, quite surprised to see Nalla Sivam standing hear him! Nalla Sivam, after being shut out from his compartment on the moving train, while getting down to fetch water, had by now, somehow managed to come all the way to the accident site, and and joined in the rescue operations by helping out the injured! Hence Anbarasu asks him on a tone tinged with surprise,

‘How did you finally manage to arrive here?’

'I came here in an ambulance that carries donor’s blood! I have a lot of friends amongst doctors and nurses, sir,’ he says.

‘Look at you. All over the world you have only friends and friends. But for me, I don’t know whom to trust, and whom to believe! I am nervous when I see anything and everything. I am afraid when I see anything and everything! I thought I knew everything. But sadly, I don’t know anything!’ he admits to Nalla Sivam!

Nalla Sivam gently goes up to him, and says, ‘You are AB negative, but Be positive,’ and then proceeds to comforts him!

Anbarasu is soon taken to the ambulance where he gets to see the little boy who’s severely injured, battling for his life, and panting hard, wanting for blood!

Anbarasu realises that, he alone could act the saviour for this little boy, right now! right here! He alone had the power on him, and the ability within him to act now! To deliver! To volunteer! To save a precious life battling for  his life!

Finally, in one decisive move, Anbarasu, who’s all along had this aversion and nervous dizziness for blood all along, all through his life, the moment he sees the sight of the injured little boy writhing in pain and agony, immediately, opens up with all his heart, with such impulsive vigour, and offers to donate his blood for the boy, and rightaway.

(A beautiful message there is, on blood donation too!)

After Anbarasu has done his noble part by donating his blood for the boy, now they are all getting back, back towards the hospital, with the boy on the stretcher, on their ambulance.

They stop midway to buy a rubber ball for the injured boy, since he had asked for it.

All of a sudden, it so happens that, sister nurse calls them back urgently, back to the ambulance, since the boy’s condition has now worsened!

Now, Anbarasu couldn’t bear to hear anything negative on the boy’s condition!

That was the last thing he had wanted to hear, in all his life! Since he had given his precious blood for the boy’s life! He's now, at last, become an empath! 

And hence, he shuts up his ears so tight, not wanting to hear any hurtful news about the boy's condition! 

But soon, when finally he sees for himself that the boy had passed away just over a minute ago, Anbarasu, for the very first time ever in his life, he breaks down, and cries out loud with all his heart!

In other words, for the first time ever in his life, he knows for himself, and he has developed for himself, the power of empathy!

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, on the other hand, presents a clear picture in contrast. Heathcliff, the antihero, has to live all his life with harsh words and cruelty all along. He is, something akin to a stray dog, who, although, he is fed, clothed and sheltered, is treated as less human all through! There is no single human being to encourage him except Catherine! Hence he says to Catherine once, “I have not one word of comfort!”

But unlike Anbarasu, who redeems himself in our eyes, transformed into another cheerful, empathetic being by the positive, therapeutic words of Nalla Sivam, Heathcliff, sadly, because of being treated ‘less-human’ and as a servant, and because of his resultant cruelty and anger, destroys not only himself but also all around him in the process!

So much for the power of empathy and the power of words on a person's life!

To be continued…