Classical Encounters
Which book are you reading these days, is a question I often ask people when I meet them. Sharing stories and experiences connects us to people and the cliché that books are our best friends holds true. Our super consciousness is satiated when we read, observe, reflect and thus evolve. Books open many doors into the vast suspended mystery of the world through varied experiences, myriad perceptions and diverse mindsets of writers who give it shape and form. Reflection and brainstorming distills the truth about an ambiguous, bewildering and breathing cosmos.
What do we learn when we read in the conventional
manner? Of course we learn about books and authors. But it is the distilled
essence of the subject, the story, or the character which remains with us over
extended periods of time. The corpus of ideas, assumptions and attitudes that
we pick up while reading may not be formally stated even by ourselves, but in a
sense is all the more real, being pervasive yet invisible. Good literature
percolates into the innermost recesses of our mind through the subtlest trajectory,
or we would be wary of it. As Keats said, ‘we distrust literature which has a
palpable design upon us,’ that is literature which too obviously wants to
convert us or influence our views.
Recorded history is the story of mankind on earth.
Classics from Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, Kalidasa’s ‘Recognition of Shakuntala’,
Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, ‘The Qissa of Heer Ranjha’ by Waris Shah to
contemporary literature portray the tales of man which are ever repetitive.
These great classics live on and never die, as human nature and behavioral
patterns recur again and again. Such writing is not for an age but for all times;
news which stays news (Ezra Pound’s definition of literature)
This column invites you to delve into your reading corpus
and dwell on most desirable characters which left an indelible mark in the
cauldrons of your mind :
Fictional characters, which
assume a larger than life force and stay with us for all our lives,
increasing our perceptions and opening doors to the intricate human psyche; and
thereby, aiding us in the in- depth and exploratory understanding of ourselves.
I simply cannot get
over these men and women who have been constant companions in my journey
through life and I revisit them with great pleasure in their original settings,
that is, in the books where I encountered them first. Each meeting is new and
fresh – unencumbered by the previous interlude; maybe an indication of the fact
that as I grow, I evolve and my understanding of the character is greater and
wholesome; a novelty which never tires to amaze me; a timeless significance of
great writing perhaps.
Anne - Anne of Green Gables
Anne with
an ‘e’ is spunky and has the wildest of imaginations. So much so that she coins
the most innovative and interesting names for insipid and fabulous places
alike. She is a red-haired,
freckle-faced orphan who faces the world with absolutely nothing but the sheer
force of her personality. I love her. The always eloquent Anne opines, “It’s so
easy to be wicked without knowing it.” The book ends with the line “God’s in
his heaven, all’s right with the world,” inspires great faith in me.
Philip Pirrip (Pip), gripped me at an early age. Like him, I had hopes of escaping the loving, but limited, quotidian world that surrounded me. And, like Pip, I learnt to be ashamed of those good people that I loved and then bitterly ashamed of that shame.
Joe Gargery
The modest, sweet Joe Gargery in great Expectation brings out the best in you. The big E- EGO that we live with has no part to play in his life. He motivates and at the same time humbles me to LOVE.
Becky Sharp
– Vanity Fair
Her impoverished childhood propels her to snare the
richest of men in matrimony. Her character lives an obsession driven by lack
which she wants to fulfill at the cost of true love.
Jane Eyre –
Jane Eyre
The governess at Thornfield Hall working for the
deliciously dark Mr Rochester , she never lets her societal position or gender
stand in her way. The caring meticulous hardworking Jane may appear to be
plain, but the simmering passionate sexuality underneath makes her a potent mix
preying perpetually on the heroes sensibilities. Looks can be highly deceptive
and fatal!
Holden
Caulfield – Cather in the Rye
Filled with a penetrating nothingness he sees the
world as stated in the most famous controversial line of the book,:”If you had
a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the ‘suck you’
signs in the world.” A line instead of being obscene itself is directed
against obscenity. The things he finds
repulsive are the things he calls phony; and the phoniness in every instance is
the absence of love, and often, the substitution of pretence for love. He rages
against a false society of convention and immortality and ends with the
acceptance and love as saving grace.
Bakha –
Untouchable
The grief and misery we inflict on living people
with our belief systems and rigid mindsets.
The Tramps
(Vladimir and Estragon) –Waiting for Godot,
The tramps and the absurd play lived with me long
after….The senselessness of the human condition to which we impart such great
importance. The wonder, incomprehension and and at times the despair at the
meaninglessness of life……………
Celie – The Color
Purple
Her evolvement
from a non - entity and just a hand in the household ; to a thinking
woman who questions her role in her marriage and her position in society
Swami –Swami
and Friends
His mind goes into a puddle when he is presented with a mathematics question about
the cost of mangoes. The narration of the episode in the book helped me
identify with Swami so much as student. I felt liberated from the feeling that
the comprehension of numbers wasn’t everyone’s game and there was no need to
feel incapacitated because of it.
Scarlet
O’Hara – Gone with the Wind
Scarlet O'Hara is maddening. She's beautiful,
passionate, and fiery. She's strong-willed, an idiot, and irritating as hell.
Who hasn't fallen for such a woman?
Rhett Butler
He spoiled me for life, a fantasy so hard to beget
in real life - witty, courageous,
tender, patient, indulging……
The list is inexhaustible. We shall keep talking
about them and more in the writings in this column in the editions to come.
These characters have changed your life course, helped you make your choices,
or awakened you to new thoughts. Send us your favorites. The best ones will be
printed in the forthcoming issues. Happy reflections!
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