Review of poetry course with Jeet Thayil

Rendezvous with Jeet Thayil

After a long time, I found myself ensconced in the cool environs of the Goa University with a teacher of poetry par excellence. He led a medley of thirty through the literary analyses of lyrical poetry; those beautiful songs of triumph and loss, mingling in clear tonality and ringing with joy of beautiful human speech.  Meet the performance poet, novelist, librettist and musician- Jeet Thayil, whose lyrical lucidity and biographical asides through sessions of reading-aloud-a-poem made us co-creators in the creative process of reading and writing poetry.

What good is poetry that cannot be indulged in, celebrated, danced and sung to?  The engaging experience had us revisit poets like Elizabeth Bishop and her dear friend Robert Lowell who, in his poem Skunk Hour, has laid his affection bare for all to see.  The comical yet woebegone interlude with John Berryman and his famous work The Dream Songs, offering depressing vignettes of Berryman alias Henry, led us intrigued for further explorations. A grim, unrelenting portrait of sing-song rhymed quatrains by Theodore Roethke My Papa’s Waltz left us at once contemplative and awed. Robert Creeley’s I Know a Man introduced us to the Black Mountain coterie of poets who excelled in narrowing the unit of structure in the poem down to what could fit within an utterance. Our encounter with Allen Ginsberg, the poet of the beat generation and his poem The Howl, a template used by many to write their own poems, was inspiring. James Wright and his innovative style of using titles and first and last line to great dramatic effect, was a lesson in writing our own poems. Joan Larkin’s poem Origin gave us a feel of ‘unblinking gaze’ and ruthless clarity on heart-wrenching subjects like child abuse.
The class, which started with American poetry and a reserved audience demeanor confronted with a consummate poet, opened out to a warm interactive interlude with an avalanche of cascading verse from Indian poets. Jeet Thayil, a repertoire of Indian poetry, an outcome of his ambitious endeavor to anthologize Indian poetry from Fulcrum magazine in Boston to Bloodaxe and Penguin editions, brought our way an in-depth resource of a canon.  The forays into the voices of Indian English poets threw in a spate of debates on choice of language, context of reading poems …but Jeet Thayil dissuaded arguments in favour of his mission of eulogizing the feel and form of lyrics in poems. The juxtaposition of  very British stylistic technique of Nissim Ezekiel with his prowess at churning out a poem of limited grammar and the spoken everyday English of the people in the streets, made interesting study.   One great benefit I derived was being introduced to many poets I had never previously read, the lost and obscured poets as Jeet called them, whose beautiful verse is not only relegated to back of beyond but is marked by a complete absence, not a print available anywhere. Jeet Thayil came upon Gopal Honnalgere, Srinivas Rayaprol, Lawrence Bantleman,  G.S. Sharat Chandra in old manuscript copies, a treasure trove of lyrical poetry, which was worth an inclusion in the contemporary anthology of Indian poets. Dom Moraes, Eunice de Souza and Manohar Shetty, poets with a Goan connection, were read enthusiastically.
The experience was akin to turning interminable corners in a maze and coming across yet another poet with a unique charm. The poetry reading parleyed into a poetry workshop for those who write their own poems. Sitting through the sessions, it was indeed remarkable to see the ruthless, but constructive appraisal by Jeet of the amateur attempts by the students ( I was really embarrassed by mine).  His definitive encouraging, truthful and restful approach evoked even the reticent voices to speak and add to the ongoing exchange.

The songs of delight reached a crescendo on the last day, 22^nd August, 2013, when Jeet Thayil performed his poems on stage in a public event. Standing upright nonchalantly, he effortlessly ploughed through his original pieces of work, as if bells resounding and bouncing off the frozen peaks and valleys of a mountainous range.  And, he had the chutzpah to render a Ghazal in English with the refrain ‘In Malayalam’ through it, an intimate, intense and pleasurable experience with a poet.

Jeet Thayil has awakened us to ‘the jolt, the jive, joie de vivre ‘of writing and reading poetry. I end this note with words from the book ‘An Equal Music’ – Poetry, such poetry, 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

Kama Sutra Unravelled

Kama Sutra Unravelled

Katharina Poggendorf–Kakar made a statement last weekend with her art and literary event 'Women, Bodies and Goddesses' at Sunaparanta. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust. The ink-on-paper artistic portraits celebrated sensuality of form and clearly demarcated the fine line between erotica and pornography.  The delineation of the artistic content on display, through literature readings of Aranyani's book "A Pleasant Kind of Heavy and other Erotic Stories”, further heightened the pleasure of the viewers.  The Kama Sutra philosophy curated subtly but unequivocally. Kudos!

The literary reading by Aranyani from her book moderated by Sudhir Kakar drew comparison from ‘The Sexual Life of Catherine M’, the most controversial book on sexuality since ‘The Story of O’. The common thread being that these are honest works by women to unmask the fallacies binding women to a confined protocol in sexual forays. These writings relentlessly bid to expose the eroticism and sexual desire in women which is a natural extension of their bodies. To indulge, participate and express that which you are endowed with without repression and secrecy. The books celebrate female sexuality with gay abandon, stripped of inhibitions and hypocrisy. Highly articulate art critic Catherine Millet indeed comes out as a potent package with her mix of high intelligence and sexual orgies. I particularly liked the stories ‘A Touch of Sun’ and ‘A Nice, Polite Girl’ in Aranyani’s book. The words are heavy with eroticism and that leisurely sensuousness;  fleshy movements lending a languorous, pleasurable feel to moments in time with seasons, fruits, clay, sheets, food, oil, bodies and souls. Kama sutra reinforced through visual exhibits and words etched in print.

Kama Sutra, the magnum opus, mother of all erotic literature still reigns supreme. Vatsyayana, who was a diligent academician, compiled the Kama sutra (seven volumes) around 150 BC.  He spent years studying religion and then set on the task of consolidating the wisdom of the sages. Vatsyayana culled his text from various sutras and rendered an ultimate love manual between man and woman - a text that lends finesse to a wholesome relationship encompassing the body, mind and soul. Every misconception of the so-called pop culture which imbues it with lesser meaning is laid to rest when you subsume it internally. A treatise on self-realization through the tenets of confidence, patience, sensitivity, compassion, playfulness, equality, unity and ultimately love.

The Sutra begins with the explanation of Dharma, Artha and Kama. Our journey on earth is to harmonize truth in our lives through thought, word and action. The discord we build through selfishness has to run its course and be dissipated in truth and love. The endeavor on the path of dharma leads to salvation and deliverance. Artha is the wealth, fame and comfort we acquire in life in tandem with our talents and creativity, and Kama is the indulgence of the senses to please the body on its sojourn on earth. Though dharma and artha are of prime importance in a mortal’s life, Kama according to Vatsayana serves a great purpose towards self-worth, confidence and empathy, acquired through companionship and love. It prepares the human being to fulfill the prime goals of dharma and artha in life. The sutra, a tribute to kama, achieves its goal through didactic presentation involving sermons and anecdotes to a fulfilling relationship. The text reinforces the concept of not just practicing kama instinctively but but training for a mastery through study and reflection.

Kama Sutra expounds on love and marriage, outlining the role of a husband and wife in a household. It lays great emphasis on the qualities of patience and sensitivity in a man wherein he inspires confidence and trust in his wife and prepares her for the possibilities of a sexual union. Fostering the companionship with friendship, playfulness and understanding, the husband should win over his wife’s favour to a beautiful union based on love and care. The Sutra also indicates that a woman may take on the role of an aggressor, if the man is tired or if she feels inclined to try it out of curiosity or experimentation. They both set on a course to undertake to understand the moods and emotions of each other such that their actions are compatible to their feelings and desires. All acts are thus performed in harmony, with a consensual assent of the partner and should lead to fulfillment on either side.  Ennui in a long time relationship should be kept at bay by reinventing and investing the relationship with a freshness of form, color and mood. Each should pay heed to hygiene, temper and aesthetics for a beautiful relationship. Once a union is equal, a man and woman can begin practicing the Chatus-Shasti, or the 64 forms of sexual union, beginning with the Alinganam, or the embrace in an effort to achieve true fulfillment of pleasure. The visual treat is represented by the sculptures at Khajurao and Ajanta and Ellora temples. The artefacts are a labour in the absolute celebration of Kama sutra.  A union thus fostered, fosters loyalty, great affection and long lasting love and companionship. It imbues each with strength and power to face the world and fulfill their dharma to the best possible extent.
The book expounds on the inherent nature of men and women. Women give their all in their passion to a man and for this reason, they take longer to commit and harbor an innate natural resistance which disallows them to fall prey to lust or attraction easily. A man has to woo a woman for a long time and really prove his love and passion for her before he can ascend the bar to her complete loyalty and love. She shudders from the strength and force of her love and has to be absolutely convinced that the man who demands such feelings from her is worth the prize. The male on the other hand feels dejected when his amorous gestures are thwarted. But the Kama Sutra recommends him to persist in his ardour and this very perseverance in the face of discouragement from the female will help him secure her hand in the end. The sutra encourages both the sexes to observe and pay attention to the needs and behavioral patterns of their paramours and devise ways to seduce and lure each other attentively bringing into play every skill to impress and woo.

Kama Sutra defines four kinds of love in a hierarchical order, the most powerful love of all being the one which strikes you in a moment of time without a purpose and is stripped of expectations and  judgements.  Like cupid striking a lucky couple and blessing them to an eternal union of body and soul. The other kinds of love are: love as a result of mutual liking or understanding between the sexes termed as mutual love and then there is a love which grows out of your thinking and imagination, which may rebound when reality clashes with your fantasy. Lastly is the love which is nurtured out of habit of living and being together- arranged marriages are a best example of this kind of love.

The books celebrate women's sexuality as a healing and liberating force. The role of courtesans in society was respected and it was mandatory that they be part of religious ceremonies in palaces of kings. The Kama Sutra allows for union between the same sexes if the said individuals complement each other physically and spiritually. The book expounds on the use of oils and other natural extracts to maintain the suppleness and texture of the skin and sexual prowess. The added aesthetic value appeals to the senses and lends a pleasant, intoxicating atmosphere to the aura of the body.

Kama Sutra validates kama and impels human beings to groom themselves to learn the amorous art of lovemaking and become adroit lovers, to be comfortable in your own skin and form and to celebrate and delight in it for a successful life. Thank you Katharina and Aranyani for opening a discourse on Kama Sutra; this article is dedicated to your endeavor.

May the trinity - Dharma, Artha and Kama be our crown to victory!

 

Jane Austen's bicentennerary

A  Prose Shakespeare

The bicentenary celebrations of Pride and Prejudice has kept the popular English author Jane Austen very much in the media and hearts of Janeites whose fanatic support prompted The Royal Mail to release a series of stamps featuring all six of Jane Austen's novels, and the Bank of England to issue 10 pound notes with Jane Austen replacing Charles Darwin. Dear Aunt Jane, the most pragmatic of English writers, could never have imagined the kind of fame and cultism her work would generate.

Her books are a study in characters from Elizabeth Bennett, whom she thought ‘as delightful a character as ever appeared in print’, to Emma whom she did not reckon as a  general favourite; for, when commencing that work, she said, ‘I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.'  To the contrary, her heroine has won innumerable friends. Emma at one point claims teasingly that `I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other', and so it proves, very much like Mr Knightley in the novel, 'one of the few people who could see faults in Emma', but for whom she remains 'faultless in spite of her faults .' Emma won millions, who like Lionel Trilling, argue that we feel concerned and protective towards her, as towards 'our ordinary fallible self'. It is indeed bewildering that her books are repositories of such longing and emotional attachments. Narratives on carriages, swinging balls, estates and fashion fads of the times have hooked readers with passing years to phenomenal proportions.   Her books are a commentary on the then Regency England transiting between the  18^th century age of reason to the Victorian -  Romantic period of the 19^th century. Austen's works are noted for their biting social commentary, an individual’s relation to society, love and marriage, gender discrimination, education of women , class hierarchies, and the playful satirization of the foibles of human nature. Austen's plots, though comic, highlight the way women of the gentry depended on marriage to secure social standing and economic security.
The conundrum cannot but be left unpicked that though her conversational ease amassed masses, the literary intelligentia kept her alive through their outpourings of delight and misgivings alike. Her brother Henry, a writer himself and a great champion of her works could be credited as her first admirer. He was proud to see her works shelved in bookstores along with Fanny Burney and Maria Hedgeworth, the then famous writers with a following. But who has heard of the latter now and Jane graces stamps and bank notes in today’s age. E.M. Forster admitted to reading her with an open mouth and  George Henry Lewes, an accomplished philosopher and  scholarly journalist with a great interest in literature, hailed Jane Austen's novels.

"What we most hardily enjoy and applaud, is truth in the delineation of life and character: incidents however wonderful, adventures however perilous, are almost as naught when compared with the deep and lasting interest excited by anything like a correct representation of life. That indeed seems to us to be Art, and the only Art we care to applaud. To make our meaning precise, we should say that Fielding and Miss Austen are the greatest novelists in our language. ... Now Miss Austen has been called a Prose Shakespeare; and, among others by Macaulay. ... we confess the greatness of Miss Austen, her marvelous dramatic power, seems more than anything in Scott akin to the greatest quality in Shakespeare. ..."

 Macaulay, called her a Prose Shakespeare because of "the marvellous and subtle distinctive traits" of her characterizations. On the contrary, Joseph Conrad wrote H.G. Wells asking, "What is all this about Jane Austen? What is there in her? What is it all about?" introducing us to the other side of the picture. The most famous rejection of Austen was inked by a celebrity female author -  Charlotte Bronte of the fame of Jane Eyre and Vilvette:

Anything like warmth or enthusiasm, anything energetic, poignant, heartfelt, is utterly out of place in commending these works: all such demonstrations the authoress would have met with a well-bred sneer, would have calmly scorned as outré or extravagant. She does her business of delineating the surface of the lives of genteel English people curiously well. There is a Chinese fidelity, a miniature delicacy, in the painting. She ruffles her reader by nothing vehement, disturbs him with nothing profound. The passions are perfectly unknown to her: she rejects even a speaking acquaintance with that stormy sisterhood ... What sees keenly, speaks aptly, moves flexibly, it suits her to study: but what throbs fast and full, though hidden, what the blood rushes through, what is the unseen seat of life and the sentient target of death--this Miss Austen ignores....Jane Austen was a complete and most sensible lady, but a very incomplete and rather insensible (not senseless woman), if this is heresy--I cannot help it.

Although Charlotte and Jane were both Englishwomen and belong to the elite of great female writers of all time, they wrote differently. Charlotte Bronte was born a year after Jane died. Jane lived in the civilized southern England of Hampshire, a place of great social life and parties, and drew her observations there from, whereas Charlotte grew up in the stark surroundings of the windswept northern England of Yorkshire. They belonged to close-knit families and their literary inclinations were promoted by their respective fathers and brothers. They read innumerable books and wrote juvenilia and performed theatrical works within their family homes. They were both around when women did not have many rights in society and it was thought unfeminine for a woman to have a public life as a writer.  Jane was a master of burlesque and irony.  I find Jane’s novels, in general, to be more “light, bright and sparkling.” Jane’s passion was more like a trickling musical brook while Charlotte’s passionate feelings were stormy and wild, the uncontained swelling waterfall. I love reading them both. .

Readers have a fabulous task of revisiting Jane Austen and her famous six novels namely, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice,  Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

 Sparkling Reading Times!

                              ”I declare after all there is no pleasure like reading”!