Poonachi

By Perumal Murugan

In short: Go read it.

After a long time have I read a book that is telling the story of an entity that is so ordinary, so mundane but very much there in our lives so much so that we actually fail to register its presence as a sentient being. The writer has taken a goat who he calls ‘Poonachi’ to narrate its story and its world view of its surroundings. Its world is restricted to the small hut of its old and poor owners but its short sojourns to nearby places with the old couple gives it lot of wisdom and peek into the ways of the world. It is considered a miracle goat and that provides another angle to its otherwise simple life but acts as a mechanism to showcase the psyche of those around her especially the humans.

A big factor to liking this book is undoubtedly the lucid translation done by Mr N. Kalyan Raman. The story feels as if it was originally written in English rather than Tamil. Though I have not read the original work of the author, this work rendered in English translation uses the language to perfectly convey what must be some particular Tamil nuances. For example,  while alluding to the clan deity Mesagaran he retains the local way of addressing him as ‘Mesayya’ which lends itself quite effortlessly without creating any confusion. There are some more Tamil words that have been retained to good effect. One such word is the term ‘Asuras’ which has been kept as such without arrogating any western definitions or its equivalent in English and that lends a unique Tamil milieu to the narration.

The book is likened to the ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell as giving a political comment through the story which may be very well true. Sample this - ‘….Goats have horns, don’t they? Suppose they get a little angry and point them at the regime? Such goats have to be identified, right? That’s why they all have to get their ears pierced.’ Many more such references are there but the story doesn’t get lopsided with it. Rather it portrays the citizen as a politically aware commentator which is a page out of an Indian’s life.

The book wins for its simple yet thought provoking narration.

Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura

 

Some books are to be tasted, some to be chewed and others to be digested. This one had me chewing the information without undue haste and verily digesting the unpalatable truths regarding our history of incessant invaders and their unsavoury deeds. This is first book on some aspect of history that I have read after the mandatory reads at school. But I wish I had read something as written by Ms Meenakshi Jain as she has explained the details in simple language, starting with interesting factoids about how religious customs were back in the days, evolving into how we perceive and conduct them in the present time. From elaborate complex rituals to one that is less elaborate, more intimate and profound, and yet we still follow some of them to this day. This is duly corroborated by the various archaeological evidences as well as the ancient sacred texts of the Vedas.

The present book shines a light on a historical journey of the city of Mathura with the help of the many archaeological finds from this place as well endorsed by finds from secondary places/sources. For example it is interesting to note that the ritual culture of images developed simultaneously within Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism in the city of Mathura. This can be seen in the earlier images of Vishnu, Bodhisatva Maitreya and Mahavira that are similar in construction. The art in these three traditions had similar elements such as sacred trees, stupas, railings, chakras etc.

The book also focuses on the advent of the Bhagwata religion whence Sri Krishna rose in prominence among all deities and the eventual merging of Krishna Vasudev with Vishnu as same entity. The author has referenced several ancient texts to bring out some historical events that occurred in Krishna Vasudeva’s lifetime. This book is rightly a testament of the fact that not only is Mathura indeed the place where Sri Krishna was born and spent his childhood but the place where he was actually delivered- the karagrah or the jail where his uncle the king Kamsa had imprisoned his parents, is very much there for all to see in what was the great Keshavadeva temple.

That Mathura held a position of prominence is attested to by the writings of the many travelers like the French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, Mahmud Balkhi from Central Asia, the Italian Niccolao Manucci etc. It is through their writings that we come to know how the devotees conducted their daily routine as well as tell us about the grandeur of Katra Keshavdeva temple.

And then came the Hindu downfall with the marauding attacks of Islamic invaders like Mahmud Ghaznavi, Aurangzeb who razed to ground the grand Keshavdeva temple, killing thousands of peaceful people. The temple was built and re-built multiple times following its destruction time and again. It is this temple that has been in recent news better known as the ‘Krishnajanmsthan’ being claimed by the Muslim side. The latter part of the book is devoted to details about the various court hearings and verdicts delivered- all in favour of the temple. Presently, fresh case has been filed in 2020 on behalf of Bhagwan Shree Krishna for full rights over the place.

 

Churma

 

This is a Hindi book that I have read after a long time, written by an educationist and a poet Mrs Dolly Dabral belonging to Uttarakhand, India. She has a long and extensive experience of dabbling in the literary world of organizing and reciting poetry at various fora and been lauded with much recognition. Having carved a niche there, she has now put her penmanship to prose starting with reminiscences of various bitter-sweet events throughout her life. Before writing ‘Churma’ she has already written a previous book, again a memoir noir in Hindi called ‘Africa House’.

Both books are an interesting sprinkling of events and characters that she came across. This is evident by the fact that they stayed on her mind adequately to be recorded in the written word and relished by the reader. The title ‘Churma’ is as most people would know, a Rajasthani delicacy and is a retelling of an old story that she had heard as a child. She clarifies in an interview that she chose it to be the first among the other stories to also indicate the mix of things that is life, just as there are different ingredients that go into the making of churma.

There are a plethora of books out in the market and discerning readers will definitely be aware of the particular mould in which most are written, that are Anglophonic in sound and craft both. At most times it feels that they have been written with the western audience in mind- a veritable disconnect with the local sentiments and thoughts that makes a read unrelatable however lucidly or skillfully written it may be. But then this is mostly seen in books written in English. To get the local flavors in a read, one must delve their teeth in the Hindi books to be instantly transported to the familiar and the forgotten.

So I was pleasantly occupied in reading these two books that are a nostalgia trip of the author and it is even more pleasant discovery that I am not averse to such trips. Mrs Dabral talks about the Dehradun and its people of yore- a time when sitting and chatting was a social norm that thrashed out knotty problems over tea, knitting and company. A time when cows were kept in the homes of most, learning classical music, donating, sewing etc was part of the home set-up. Try and imagine that Dun with today’s- it’s irreconcilable! Since I too belong to Dehradun, I found the stories relatable but it’s not as if such scenario was not there in other parts of the country.

The writing is a straight off narration of how things transpired without any literary embellishments to distract from the conversational tone of the telling. This makes the readability immense and you keep turning pages to know what happens next. The writer has impressive command on languages that she displays with Punjabi, Garhwali and Hindi with acute proficiency. She has started her journey in prose with interesting autobiographical accounts in form of stories in two book forms that have been well received by the readers. 

I hope she comes up with a work of fiction soon that regales its readers with the Dehradun/Uttarakhand of the 60s and 70s about which not much literature is available. This unavailability is also one big reason I feel why youth of this region are not suitably connected with the culture and ethos of the hill station. It has never been projected to them. And as such Mrs Dabral's books help fill that gap we find in the Garhwali literary scene.

Book review: Ancient Hindu Science by Alok Kumar

 Book review: Ancient Hindu Science by Alok Kumar

 

This book is a long awaited one.

There has been a gaping absence of a comprehensive record or documenting of a literature that put all the knowledge that has been carried by the general masses in their consciousness through the decades but nowhere could be referenced as a physical document. This book satisfies that need to see the many achievements and accomplishments of the erudite ancients whose learning we still read, learn and make use of in our modern world. Although the author says that the book is an introduction to the vast knowledge systems of the Hindu learning in various fields like science (physics, chemistry, biology), astronomy, geography, geometry, mathematics, medicine etc, it very much touches the major aspects achieved in these fields and the influence it had all over the world. Bharata wasn’t the epicenter of learning just like that. It is heartening to affirm that it is indeed the ancient Hindu knowledge that enriched and helped advance not just the scientific thought but also in the spiritual and philosophical realms however long winded route the knowledge took like from India to Persia, Arabia, Greece and then to the European and Western world in general. Several translations of Indian texts made way across the world who in turn were made the richer for it. The work of al-Khwarizmi in Baghdad was made possible due to the discoveries and inventions of the ancient Hindus. His books were read by established scholars in Europe like Copernicus, Adelard of Bath, Leonardo Fibonacci, Pope Sylvester II, Roger Bacon et al who helped spread it further on. Voltaire, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Carl Jung, Max Muller, Robert Oppenheimer, Erwin Shrodinger, Arthur Shopenhauer, Henry David Thoreau and many other intellectuals were influenced by the Hindu knowledge and in fact this was the harbinger of the ‘Oriental’ studies that evidently brought about the ‘aha’ moment to the western world allowing it to revel in it and slake its thirst from the wisdom available so easily. It can be said that the world knew the true strength and stature of our culture to which we have awakened rather late but awake we are now.

An amusing and a bit surprising point that I realized while reading this book is the constant question mark we have been putting towards the education we take and dispense, especially like geometry and mathematics. Haven’t we oft heard as to what use are we going to put the learning of quadratic equations or trigonometry in real life? And for all practical purposes that is indeed the case. We do not need to use mathematics more than the knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Those in specialized jobs or maths ‘nerds’ may be using the complicated and advanced calculations to some use but that is not the norm.

Guess what? The ancients had the usage of these advanced knowledge systems in daily life. For example Hindus observed the several festivals and fasts that we still see being followed in our society. These sacred days are calculated with the help of the Hindu almanac called the ‘Panchang’ that is luni-solar in its format ie the the Hindu months of the year are lunar and the years solar. The knowledge of the ecliptic circle of the moon was something that every Hindu family could calculate to find the days of Amavasya, Purnima, Ekadashi, Chaturthi or the various days of fasting, festivals or the auspicious times for worshipping etc. This is how closely science was woven into the daily fabric of life.

How could the fantastic ancient temples we see today have been built without the use of trigonometry?

It is such bits of information that the book wisens us to, things that are common knowledge but lost to us of the deeper meanings they hold.  As another example, the concept of zero began as a philosophical idea of ‘sunyata’ ie nothingness- a void that indicates the ‘nirguna-rupa’ form of God. This eventually evolved into a mathematical reality in the form of zero. Thereby establishing a link between an abstract subject with an exact one! Reminds me of a college student being asked by his Mathematics professor to write a paper on the link between Philosophy and Mathematics. He was at sea to say in short. This book would have helped the student in multiple ways I am sure.

The book is well researched with several citations and references duly annotated. The language is lucid and without heavy vocabulary that makes it very amenable and immensely readable especially for the younger readers but is a good resource point for even the older readers for whom it may serve as a reminder of why we believe in certain things and for what reasons?

Recommend it to all to get to know the strands of Indian history that still influence the modern world in its workings as we see it.  

Book review: Half A Life

 

Half a Life is a lucidly and cogently written book by the renowned and inimitable VS Naipaul that won him the Nobel prize for Literature in 2001. 

The story is about Willie Somerset Chandran facing an identity issue starting with his name. What emerges is the imagery of a tumultuous India in the 1930s but whose effects are negligible in the maharaja’s estate where the initial part of the story is set. The plight and dilemma of a temple community that is facing no patronage from the rulers since the advent of muslims and then the British, is what is leading the priests and its support system to look for better living and paying opportunities elsewhere. But in the backdrop of the freedom struggle going on in the country and Mahatma Gandhi’s call to give up foreign goods and uplift social barriers leads Willie’s father to take a decision that he lives to regret all his life.

With such rooting Willie wishes to escape the insecurity, the same life as his father’s in his coming future. The deep caste riven society would make it difficult for him to find a better life than what he had already. And thus starts his quest for a better life moving across the seven seas to Great Britain eventually to Africa, giving deep insights into the life during post-war England and the isolated yet communal lives of the business class during the last days of colonialism.

Half a life is a phrase to depict the unfulfilled or incomplete lives lived yet seeking to complete it through the course of events and individuals one meets. In this case Willie is not the high caste brown man in a foreign land or his own motherland that would tether him to any one place just as the business community of his neighbours in Africa were. As he observes-

‘…that the world I had entered was only half and half world, that many of the people who were our friends considered themselves, deep down, people of the second rank. They were not fully Portuguese, and that is where their own ambitions lay.’

In the end isn’t life all about compromises and adjustments? Willie wants to quit his marriage with Ana for he doesn’t want to live her life as he says.

‘Perhaps I haven’t been living mine either’ is her reply.

 

 A perfectly good read.

Book review: The Postcard

 This was my first acquaintance with Leah Fleming's work. The premise of the story is a postcard that is the axis around which the story revolves that intrigued me into it. True enough, it harks back to the days when writing letters was the mainstay of communication and it is a postcard that leads into an inter-generational search for one's roots that in return helps the reader traverse the various time scales via the social mores, dresses, beliefs, thoughts via multiple points of view. The story has the lives detailing the aftermath of pot WWI era and the fresh tidings of another war looming on the horizons.

It is a fine storyline except the reader sometimes gets a little confused about the timelines and some wartime details that one is unaware of owing to not knowing that particular history. Despite that, the story can be followed well but then again it spans a vast expanse of spatial detail like across Australia, Scotland, Egypt, Belgium, UK etc so the mental follow up needs to keep pace with the change of setting to get a deeper feel of the people and places. This also shines on the fact that the author is well traveled (or very well informed) about these aforementioned places with a good sack of nuggets or trivia stitched into the story. 

The protagonists are three ladies Phoebe, Caroline and Melissa. Out of them I felt the first two led very lonely, unhappy lives with lessons for the third one to have a go at love and second chances. 

All in all it makes for an interesting read.

Book review-- Makers of Modern Dalit History

 

Makers of Modern Dalit History is a joint effort by Sudarshan Rambadran and Guru Prakash Paswan. The book is well researched project to document the adversity and travails of the subaltern communities that make an important weft of our social fabric but are belittled or kept disadvantaged in the social ladder. The book documents eighteen luminaries from such disadvantaged backgrounds who defy the impossible to chart pathbreaking course of their lives. The personalities have been picked from far back in history like Kabir Das, Guru Ravidas, Rani Jhalkaribai, Veda Vyasa, Sant Janabai, Ayyankali, to closer in time such as Jogendranath Mandal, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Udham Singh, B R Ambedkar etc.

 Most individuals we have known with some details and some only by name. So it made for a pleasant and interesting read to know some unknown details from these life accounts not just about the adverse situation made due to the political, religious , social rules that they had to face and fight but also how they were able to motivate and take the masses along with them. Some facts like Guru Nanak , Guru Raidas and Kabir were contemporary and met together at least once was an eyeopener. The book must be read to find some such nuggets in those biographical chapters.<br />The language of the book is simple and without jargons so that one easily slips from one chapter to the next. And herein lies a little catch for one to catch the moment, era, ethos of an individual and then retain the flavour, one needs to forego jumping too quickly from one to the next. Other than that, the book is a reminder to the difficulties faced by a part of our society but the authors maintain the tone in a positive way rather than be recriminatory, exhorting for equity and progress for all within the framework of existing social and constitutional structures.