The Mill and the Cross

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                                   The Mill and the Cross

‘The Mill and the Cross’ was featured by Sachin Chatte in the Wednesday film club at Sunapranta last week. Wonder of wonders, the film brings three creative arts together – painting, writing and visual arts.  The film is based on the book with the same title by art historian and critic, Michael Frank Gibson, which itself is a lively rendering of his scholarly work dedicated to a sixteenth century painting-  ‘The Way to Cavalry’ by Peter Bruegel. 

It takes the reader close to the painting and unravels the elements of symbolism, aesthetics and allusions in the artwork of the Flemish painter. Gibson’s book and Majewski’s film examine the painting through a magnifying lens, thereby becoming brilliant feats of artistic research and deliverance themselves. Paying a tribute to Bruegel and his spectacular masterpiece in their own ways, they make the renaissance political artwork relevant to contemporary times.

Bruegel (played by Rutger Hauer) was a poet and a painter in sixteenth century Flanders, Netherlands. He was a flaneur who walked amongst the people observing, recording and sketching. His works express his emotional and intellectual connect with the land and its people. “The essence of his artworks like Hunters in the Snow and The Tower of Babel was based on the fact that you can delve into them, you want to touch these people, walk among them. When I look at Hunters in the Snow I hear the crunch of snow, I can feel it in my gums. I can hear the snap of the fire, the yells of people on frozen lakes, crows and ravens, I can feel the icy air,” says Majewski.

Majewski, too, is a poet and painter. He wanted to paint with a video camera and studied film-making.  He became the avant garde of everything that was happening in visual arts. He recognized that Italian filmmaker Michaelangelo Antonioni’s film ‘Blow-up’ was one that came close to such an endeavor, and set out to do something on similar lines. His first film ‘The Knight’ is a nod to renaissance painting. He was amazed by Gibson’s book and decided to make the subject matter (Bruegel’s – Road to Cavalry) a visual gaze that extends beyond a viewing in an art gallery.

Shot mainly in front of a blue screen, the film was put together with a number of CGI graphics and took two years to attain an image as close as possible to the work by Bruegel.

 It became a symbol of cinematic freedom because its prime focus never strayed from the painting. All the shots are contained within its frame to portray a live vibrant life peopled by characters, opening up a whole array of meanings, providing a great deal of knowledge about the painting and its maker, as well as the times in which it was painted.

The film opens with a close shot of the painting and the camera enters the painting taking the viewers along to showcase an evocative picture of peasant life in erstwhile Flanders. Their hard working spirit is mirrored amidst simple moments of indulgence and fun. A group of children alight the screen with their pranks and laughter. But the ever-pervasive shadow of the red-tunic cavalry of the Spanish king pilfering and punishing infidels (heretics- Protestants) casts a darkness of doom and injustice on the pastoral setting. Innocuous men are beaten-up and hoisted on a cross to be preyed upon by birds and half-alive women are buried in open graves.

The commentary and monologues of Rutger Hauer in the film personify Bruegel and highlight the different aspects of the painting developing around the stories of people that he witnesses. His representation of the plight and pain of the peasants in the name of religion and the injustice of the mighty, is wrought against a backdrop of Christian culture since antiquity.

During Bruegel’s days, myths commanded lives of people and their imprint in the arts was discernible. A craggy high rock surmounted by a colossal windmill (Cosmic Mill) represents the universal law of God. The mill owner views the entire scene non-committally perched on a high platform, as the grinders of his mill crush grain ceaselessly.

The unseen Jesus in the middle of the painting carries a cross to Cavalry for his crucifixion and the red-tunic soldiers personify the Roman guard of Pontius Pilate. Thus, the Passion of Christ is superbly juxtaposed with the passion of Flanders, being crucified by the Spanish king’s army, in Bruegel’s days. The sunny side on left of the painting is balanced by the darkness of press of people to the right who have come to witness the crucifixion on the Golgotha hill. The theme of Precession of the Equinoxes is invoked to explain the deep-rooted tradition of passing of ages. The painting conveys binaries of progress and regression in succeeding ages of earth and repeated patterns in the story of mankind.

Another marked feature of the film was expressions of people on way to cavalry – unconcerned and hardened against injustice, lest their remorse should invoke soldiers’ ire. They are inured, moving from one horrifying spectacle to another, preserving their own skin, till time indicts them. Thus, the elements of the painting which appear incomprehensible or unconnected in the beginning, weave themselves into a connected whole at the end of the film.

This creative endeavor by Majewski is an attempt to preserve legacy of art and history for posterity and is a savoury sampling in contemporary times. Sachin’s comment at the end of the film – “How cruel human beings can be” rang in my ears long after it was over. A must watch!  

Literature for Young Adults

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                                                       Literature for Young Adults

In our ongoing posts about the reading habit, today we shall focus on youth literature.  Research studies in 1920 concluded that youth literature was a category by itself.  The literary world had turned its attention to writing exclusive books for young readers.  As a result, there came into being a segregation between children’s literature (which was about candy floss, fairy tales, wishes coming true etc.) and writings for young adults (where the subject matter differed greatly).  Youth literature focused on age related issues from 13 to 16 years and then 17 to 25 years. This is a period of life where growing children experience puberty and come into their own. They want to think for themselves and make independent choices. It is a tumultuous phase of weaning away from parental pressures, choosing academic careers, and vocations for themselves and striking out on their own in the adult world. ‘Catcher in the Rye’ and ‘Lord of Flies’ written in the 50s were breakthrough books which boldly portrayed such issues to young readers. ‘The Outsider’ by S.E Hinton is another such western novel dealing with the dark side of adolescence.  Susan Eloise was 17 years old when she wrote it.  The novel came to be a cult teen read for young adults.

Cultural context becomes important when we consider the subject matter for teen literature.  Issues which may be relevant in a western society may not hold well in the Orient.  However, in our global world today, cultural boundaries are dissolving and changing this paradigm. Cosmopolitanism has led to a common culture and shared themes. Reading literature from varied writers introduces young readers to different perspectives and altered realities preparing them to be global citizens. Internationally successful books by Rior Riordon, Stephenie Meyer are a craze with young people everywhere. Other notable mentions include the ‘Hunger Games’ trilogy, ‘Lord of the Rings’ and the ‘Infiniti Ring’ series.  Let’s also discover other classical gems in this genre.  

‘Anne of Green Gables’ written by award-winning Canadian writer L. M. Montgomery is part of school curriculums across the world. Robert Browning’s quote “When God’s in heaven, all’s is well with the world” forms the last line of the first book in the series. In the book, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, siblings in their fifties and sixties, decide to adopt a boy from an orphanage to help Matthew run his farm. They live at Green Gables – their Avonlea farmhouse on Prince Edward Island.  Through a misunderstanding, the orphanage sends Anne Shirley. The novel recounts how Anne with her youthful idealism and spirituality makes her way with the Cuthberts, in school and in town. She has a very wild imagination.  Her unfailing positive energy propels her to impart the most innovative names to insipid and fabulous places alike.  The red-haired, freckle-faced girl faces the world with the sheer force of her personality.  She opines, “It’s so easy to be wicked, without knowing it.” The book series, thereafter, chronicles her life’s trials and tribulations through adolescence to adulthood.

Judy Blume and Jacqueline Wilson share something common regardless of their origins and writing styles. They both came in for censure for their themes of writing for young adults, even though their books were published half a century apart. Their focus on controversial subjects of sexuality, divorce, foster homes, adoption, mental illness, menstruation, masturbation, birth control and death had the adult world up in arms against their books.  Airing of taboo topics always creates a furore. Nonetheless they persisted in their writings and their books became bestsellers. Teenagers wanted to read them because they felt that the issues, many of which could not be discussed with their parents and teachers, were very relevant to their lives.  A young reader said, “I felt empowered to face the world after reading Blume’s books.”  ‘Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret’ and ‘Blubber’ are Blume’s famous works based on sexuality and bullying. In contemporary fiction, Wilson has received great acclaim on similar lines for her lifetime contribution as a children's writer and she was a UK nominee for the International Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014.

Another safe bet when browsing for books to read is to look for award-winning young adult authors.  The 1970s through the mid-1980s have been described as the golden age of young-adult fiction. Lois Lowry became widely known for her book ‘The Giver’. A book reviewer said, “Lowry’s exceptional use of metaphors and subtle complexity makes it a book that will be discussed, debated and challenged for years to come...a perfect teen read.”  By the turn of the new millennium, this rage caught on and the World Wars and the Holocaust were the mainstay of many writers for young adults. ‘The Book Thief’ by Australian author Marcus Zukas and ‘The Boy in Striped Pyjamas’ by the Irish author John Boyne topped bestselling lists for years. John Green’s ‘Paper Towns’, ‘Looking for Alaska’, Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian’ are some of the hits today.

The graphic novel was a revolutionary trend to hit the teen book world in the 80s. ‘A Contract With God’ and ‘Maus’ laid a strong foundation, and then there was no looking back. In a way, the genre opened ways of tackling sensitive and explosive subject matter with greater expressive ease using pithy text and graphics. ‘V for Vendetta’, ‘Hellboy’, ‘Invisibles’ and ‘The Tale of One Bad Rat’ have a following that seems to be ever on the increase.

Lastly the age-old classics, not of a particular age but for all time, lure young readers with their heavy contemplations and asides. Authors such as Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Mark Twain and Louisa May Alcott remain favorites. Amongst timeless characters, Philip Pirrip in Great Expectations (Pip) grips readers at an early age. Like him, many youngsters harbour hopes of escaping the loving, but limited, quotidian world that surrounds them at home. And like Pip, they learn to be ashamed of those good people that they love and then bitterly ashamed of that shame. On the other hand, Pip’s uncle, the modest and sweet Joe Gargery, brings out the best in young readers. He motivates and at the same time humbles young readers to let go their big EGO and to LOVE unconditionally.

The list is never ending but I hope my three-part series on the reading habit for children has given readers a glimpse into the wonderful world of books. I wish and pray that many will take to this journey of lifelong companionship with books.

The Reading Habit

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                                                             The Reading Habit

In the previous post, we explored literature for children between age groups four and eight years. Publishing houses in India, Tara, Katha, Tulika, Rupa and Navneet, to name a few, have done wonders by publishing reading material for very young children. Today we delve into reading material for preteens where a lacuna exists in terms of Indian children’s fiction for age group 8 years and above.

As parents we are primarily concerned with improving academic proficiency of our children. Little or no attention is paid to let children imbibe the pleasures of reading for reading sake. If we want children to inculcate habits of self-discovery through reading, we must stop being didactic, preachy and moralistic in our outlook. The idea of reading books with the sole aim of improving communication skills needs to be thrown out lock, stock and barrel.  A few Indian authors are contributing in this regard; the preteen book market is a significant market and publishers and distributors need to tap it better.

Ranjit Lal’s books like ‘Faces in the Water’, ‘Battle for No. 19’ have a following as they deal with contemporary issues such as female foeticide, terrorism and riots, deftly using children characters to tell stories.  Manjula Padmnabhan’s ‘Unprincess’ is about a maverick girl who takes up her own battles and knows her mind. This shift in portrayal of female characters is liked and appreciated by young readers. Subhadra Sen Gupta has made historical fiction writing her forte and she churns out a fine blend of fact and fiction to hook her readers. This is a good example for how history can be relayed through colorful and imaginative stories instead of a series of dates in dry prosaic text.  

Luckily, in today’s global world, our children also have access to foreign literature. Authors abroad understand the need for fast and pacy action in their books for young readers. Their books are oriented to thrill and charge their young readers like a video game. Geeky personalities, technology wars, adventurous characters and myths keep children glued to books like Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, Big Nate, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter series. While Enid Blyton, Geronimo Slilton and Roald Dahl still remain favorites, new age fiction has become quite varied for kids today.

Kirsty Murray, an Australian author of children’s fiction, is another good example. Her writing speaks to children who have outgrown candy floss and are not yet clouded by the consciousness of an adolescent - an ebullient set, who are no longer naïve and have a mind of their own. They think actively and search for answers to questions that tweak their curiosity. She says it is a moment in space between childhood and adolescence. Murray’s book ‘The Year It All Ended’ deals with female protagonists grappling with post World War I trauma and death. In ‘The Secret Life of Maeve Kwong’, the bold heroine goes looking for her Irish father across the globe, even when he does not know about her existence. 

Beverly Cleary, a Newbery awardee, was a children’s librarian before she became a full-time author. She guided children to select books of literary merit comprising characters that they could identify with. After years of helping young readers and hosting live storytelling sessions, she started writing her own stories. Thus Henry Huggins, his dog Ribsy and the Quimby sisters Breezus and Ramona were born as literary characters. Beverly Cleary series are a craze amongst young readers. The responsible Ramona clearly becomes a role model for young girls in the twin books - ‘Ramona and her father’ and ‘Ramona and her mother’, where she helps her parents overcome great hardship.

Children’s classics can become a delightful read for preteens with guidance and follow-up discussions. They work best in book-club meets and story-hours with an interested adult.  Beware of abridged, excerpted versions that many small-time publishers try to pawn off as good classical reads. The mantra is slow, careful reading chapter by chapter, interspersed with book-readings from contemporary bestsellers. Background contexts, old world places and map work flesh out characters and bring stories into focus. Robert Louis Stevenson, Johanna Spryi, Frank Baum, Daniel Defoe, Rudyard Kipling, Frances Hogdson Burnett and Eleanor Estes are authors that young teens can explore and have fun with. Such an engagement would grow on a young reader, and make them appreciate good literature.

Previously, the culture in India did not encourage literature on any of the erstwhile taboo topics - love, sex, money or death - for young readers. Many children stopped reading beyond 10 years of age, because they did not find literature that stimulated their minds. But today, the story is very different and children are spoilt for choice. There is a book for each one out there!

(to be continued…)

Peeking Poking and Reading

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Love Loss & What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi

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Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

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Ruskin Bond 2016

Ruskin Bond

Many Small Moments to Savour! 

"Book readers are special people, and they will always turn to books as the ultimate pleasure.” -  Ruskin Bond

Come May and the reading fraternity awaits the release of a new book of short stories by the Indian Bond – Ruskin Bond. Excerpts from “The charm of elephants and other wild tales” Stories about his lifelong companions - animals, insects, flowers and trees at Dehra, Mussourie and Landour.   

                                                      Harold, Our Hornbill

Here he delineates how birds herald the coming of rains after the scorching summer heat:  

Although Harold the Hornbill never seemed to drink any water, he loved the rain. We always knew when it was going to rain because Harold would start chuckling to himself about an hour before the first raindrops fell.

This used to irritate Aunt Ruby. She was always being caught in the rain. Harold would be chuckling when she left the house. And when she returned, drenched to the skin, he would be in fits of laughter.

As storm clouds would gather, and gusts of wind would shake the banana trees, Harold would get very excited, and his chuckle would change to an eerie whistle. “Wheee…..wheee,’ he would scream and with the first drops of rain, he would start roaring with pleasure. The wind would carry the rain into the veranda, and Harold would spread his wings and dance, tumbling about like a circus clown.

                                                            The Python

Maybe vanity isn’t just a supercilious human trait after all:

Next we saw the python curled up on the dressing table, gazing at his reflection in the mirror. I went for Grandfather, but by the time we returned, the python had moved elsewhere. A little later he was seen in the garden. Then he was back on the dressing table, admiring himself in the mirror. Evidently, he had become enamoured of his own reflection. Grandfather observed that perhaps the attention he was receiving from everyone had made him a little conceited.

“He’s trying to look better for Aunt Mabel,” I said, a remark that I instantly regretted, because Grandmother heard it, and she brought the flat of her hand down on my head.  “Well, now we know his weakness,” said Grandfather. “Are you trying to be funny, too?” demanded Grandmother, looking her most threatening. “I only meant he was becoming very vain,’ said Grandfather hastily. “It should be easier to catch him now.”

He set about preparing a large cage with a mirror on one end. One morning, I saw the python curled up in the cage. He had eaten all the food, and was relaxing in front of the mirror with something resembling a smile on his face - if you can imagine a python smiling. I lowered the trapdoor gently, but the python took no notice; he was in raptures over his handsome reflection. We left the cage in the jungle, with the trapdoor open.

“He made no attempt to get out,” said Grandfather later. “And I didn’t have the heart to take the mirror away. It’s the first time I have seen a snake fall in love.”

                                                The charm of elephants

Everyone likes elephants. Go where you will, you won’t hear a harsh word against these outsize animals, who combine power with gentleness, a childish sulkiness with good humour and great girth with a ballet dancer’s poise:

Elephants are noted for their nimbleness, and in parts of Assam, there is a belief that wild elephants sometimes assemble together to dance. A mahout once told me that he had come upon a large forest clearing, the floor beaten smooth and hard.  “It was an elephant nautch-khana,” he said.  A ballroom! I am quite happy to go along with the quaint belief that elephants meet by moonlight in their forest ballrooms to dance their reels and quadrilles. The music of their trunks is no better or worse than the music of bagpipes.

                                                                      The world of music

Bond hears symphonic classical melodies in the natural sounds of the jungle:

At the height of the monsoon, the banyan tree was like an orchestra pit with the musicians constantly tuning up. Then, from the stream came the chanting of hundreds of frogs. There were tenors and baritones, sopranos and contraltos, and occasionally a bass deep enough to have pleased the great Chaliapin. They sang duets and quartets from La Boheme and other Italian operas, drowning out other jungle sounds except for the occasional cry of a jackal doing his best to join in. 

“We might as well sing,” said Uncle Ken, and began singing the ‘Indian love call’ in his best Nelson Eddy manner. I too tried adding my shrill piping to theirs, with a toy flute in my hands. But they thought poorly of our musical ability. Whenever I piped, the birds and the insects fell into a pained and puzzled silence.  Uncle Ken was answered by strident jackal calls, not one but several- with the result that all self-respecting denizens of the forest fled from the vicinity, and we saw no wildlife that night.

                                                            The friendship of flowers

"A flower doesn't have to rush about in order to make friends. It remains quietly where it has grown and sweetens the air with its fragrance. God gave this power to flowers and gentle people."

I like to take other people’s sick or discarded plants and cajole them back to health. This has given me a bit of a reputation as a plant doctor. Actually, all I do is give an ailing plant a quiet corner where it can rest and recuperate from whatever ails it- they have usually been ill-treated in some way.

I rescued a dying asparagus fern from the portals of the Savoy Hotel, and now, six months later, its strong feathery fronds have taken over most of my bedroom window, and I have no need of curtains. Nandu, the owner of Savoy, now wants his fern back.

The simple tales continue and we feel refreshed and reborn every time we read them.