Sunday, October 21, 2012

Bond with Kipling



                                                     Bond with Kipling
‘Exploring Children Fiction in India’ was my research topic for some time till I changed it to the works of Vikram Seth. The explorations entailed entrails of the body of children story writing in India since its inception to a far and wide interweaving tapestry of works by a plethora of writers.  The 2 R’s – Rudyard Kipling and Ruskin Bond had me enmeshed for a season and I was much intrigued by their diverse perspectives on the Indian scene.
They are highly acclaimed writers with Kipling, who was the recipient of the Nobel Prize and Bond who received the Padma Shri.  The former was a British author born in India in the times of the Raj in the late Victorian period and the latter is an Indian author of British descent who lives in Landour, Mossurie. Their take on the Indian milieu and the polarity which separates it makes an interesting literary study. The British society in India was renowned for its rigid hierarchy. It also comprised of a unique social consciousness; that of the Anglo - Indians. After serving a term of their postings they would leave, but many chose to stay behind, unable to break away from the impact that India had on their psyche, accentuated by a distinct sense of superiority to their native counterparts. Biographies of the authors inform us that their formative years were spent in India and then they visited England for some time, Kipling more so than Bond. The Indian stories of Kipling form a small part of his complete literary output, but he was one of the few writers of the late Victorian age who wrote exotic Indian tales for the common man here, and for the fascinating consumption of the English back in England who craved for the stories of the mystic land - a crown possession of the British Empire abroad.
‘The Jungle book’, ‘Just So Stories’ and ‘Kim’ are the peaks of Kipling’s oeuvre. His artistic flair, craftsmanship and meticulous meter and rhyme never allowed his writing to be eclipsed from the minds of the people and through all the storms that dogged his profile as a writer. His alluring and near perfectionist art of storytelling was shadowed for long by his controversial political ideology. The British Empire, with its imperialistic agenda, had a mystical appeal in Kipling’s mind. His famous poem – ‘The White Man’s Burden’ which became a popular phrase, emphasized the moralistic inclinations of the white man to civilize the colored and backward races of the orient.  With the advent of the First World War the imperialistic ideology was denounced and his writings were scrutinized and condemned for dark political shades. The literary battles fought have been far and numerous but the following lines refute the allegations downright.
All good people agree,
And all good people say,
All nice people, like Us, are We
And everyone else is They:


But if you cross over the sea,
Instead of over the way,
You may end by (think of it!) looking on We
As only a sort of They!'

Kim, the story of the orphaned Irish boy who lives off the streets in Lahore, is a picturesque painting of the sounds, smells and colors of India. It is as if the writer has completely immersed himself in the land of his birth and is most lovingly intimate with its nuances, practices, ethos and plays. “A fair land- a most beautiful land is this of Hind - and the land of the five rivers is fairer than all,” said Kim. Many of his older prints had the Hindu Swastika printed on the book covers, which fuelled fresh controversies with the rise of Nazi Germany. Given the pointer, it would be a good exercise on the part of the reader to explore the works of Rudyard Kipling - especially the Indian story, and reconcile his artistic acumen with his political perspective.
Ruskin Bond, on the other hand, has been embraced by India and the world over for his quintessential writings hailing the state and culture of India. His lucid style interwoven with practical humor and a subtle wisdom has been applauded by the masses, especially children. Bond is goodness incarnate, who has used his skill to lighten people’s lives with his stories of nature and eccentricities of ordinary human folk. The aesthetics of ordinariness - the hallmark of his writing craft, is endearing and refreshing.
What classifies Bond as a unique writer and segregates him from others is that in spite of his British descent, his writing is not Eurocentric. After a four year sojourn in England, he chose to settle in India permanently. He writes like a man completely and absorbedly immersed in the vast landscape called INDIA. The stories are an authentication of his deep appreciation and love for India and its people. And yet because of his background he is able to distance himself and render an overview of all that is not right in his adopted country. The personal travails of his protagonist are juxtaposed with the social, political, cultural, religious and communal fabric of the geographical area around him - a subject of much critical acclaim in his works. His work has been adapted to serials and films, out of which ‘The Blue umbrella’ is a must watch.
If you love the ‘Blue Mountains’, are awed by the spectacular and mystical creations on earth, and enthralled by the petty foibles and exchanges of human beings – read his literature; a truly spiritual quest.
 These two great writers had very different perspectives to life in the Indian subcontinent. Who do you agree more with? Read them to make your own perspective.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Epigraphic Ruminations!



  Epigraphic Ruminations

A book is a story set in a particular time and circumstance. The book cover, the title, the blurb, the prologue and the epilogue impart it a greater depth and perspective without deviating from its core. A few readers pick up a book and start reading from the first chapter, propelled by a compulsive need to get to the heart of the matter in the book. There are others who, I would say, indulge in foreplay before savoring the entrée. They flirt with the book a bit first, to arouse their senses and appetite for the book in hand. An epigraph is used by writers for this very definite purpose.  The dictionary defines it as a short inscription on a statue, a wall or at the beginning of a literary text. The latter could be modified to each chapter in a book. Today we contemplate on epigraphs.
An epigraph invokes a dialogue between the author, the source from where it is taken and the reader. Its positioning in a book at the very beginning, surrounded by space and a special font style, leads us to summarize that it exists for and by itself – a decorative, ornamental device. And yet its shadow encompasses the entire body of work in the book. It challenges the reader to determine its relation to the text. It is intricately woven with the essence of the main text of the book in an elusive, subtle manner which lends it a unique dimension and defines its unusual character. It invokes images, words and ideas which are indicative of the themes of the text. The intrigue involved envelops it with an enigma and an unusual spirit which explains its common usage by writers in their works.
A major innovation in Toni Morrison’s book ‘The Bluest Eye’ is the use of an ironic epigraph of an excerpt from a white school primer taught in all schools in the US. It depicts the white ideal of a happy home and family. The book is a focus on a young black girl who wants to acquire blue eyes symbolic of beauty in white racist America and an answer to all the misery that pervades her and her family.
“Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy.”

The excerpt is given three times in the book and with each successive entry, it shifts from orderliness to chaos. The first version portrays a beautiful home with father, mother, children and pets - idyllic and happy. It is a sketch of a white ideal of a happy family and the white standards under which blacks live in America. The second version is printed without capitalization and punctuation, a diminished copy of the first and represents the world of the lighter complexioned Negroes modeled in the context of a white happy family. The third version without capitalization, punctuation or spaces between the words stands for the overcrowded and chaotic world of the poor blacks. This version is indicative of the distortion, moral chaos and deterioration of the black Breedlove family in the book.
Epigraphs illuminate major aspects of a story and direct us to head in a particular direction. An excerpt from a meditation by John Donne is used as an epigraph by Vikram Seth in his book ‘An Equal Music’.
“And into that gate they shall enter, and in that house they shall dwell, where there shall be no cloud nor sun, no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light, no noise nor silence, but one equal music, no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession, no foes nor friends, but one equal communion and identity, no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity”.
The epigraph is indicative of peace, contentment and bliss that a redeemed soul experiences on entering heaven. ‘An Equal Music’ for Seth is the zenith of music which surpasses all barriers of composition. Music it is, which transcends loss and emptiness and gives solace to the soul. The book ends with,
Music, such music, is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness, why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music – not too much, or the soul could not sustain it – from time to time.”
 In ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzergald, the writer breaks the epigraphic code. He serves us a fictionalized quote by fictionalized characters.
"Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry ‘Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!’ “– Thomas Parke D’Invilliers

Thomas Parke is a fictional character in another book by the writer. First of all, Fitzergald does not use the quote of another great author in keeping with the rules and then tops the fallacy with a quote from his own fictional character. That’s being clever and innovative at the same time! In the book, Gatsby garners wealth by spurious means and acquires a lifestyle which would stun Daisy and she would be his. In so many words, he dons a gold hat to seduce materialistic Daisy, his lost love. His shining golden veneer and a high bounce would surely attract Daisy and she would be lured by the sheen of the golden hat to bounce with him. 

Herman Melville executed a feat in Moby Dick by writing one of the longest epigraphs about Whales, which runs into pages. The erudite writer George Elliot penned an epigraph at the beginning of each of the 86 chapters of her book ‘Middlemarch’ which became a thread weaving through the story. This bonded well with the prelude on St Theresa which appeared at the beginning of the book. St Theresa was an idealistic nun who yearned to lead an epic life and do great deeds to reform the world and mark a trail of greatness in life and was stopped by controlling factors in her life to meet her goal. Dear Dorothea Brooke is her reincarnation in the book, who shudders at everyday chores that women do; and instead wants to accomplish epic deeds.
How well the epigraphs and the text of the book blend and render the ultimate dance of a book Next time you pick up a book, turn to the first page, pause, and read the epigraph. Epigraphic ruminations await you!