Book Reviews

ENGLISH

IN SEARCH OF HINDUISM: Dr. Prema Nandkumar, Sri Aurobindo’s Action, PO Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, 605 002; pp55; Rs.30/-.

In October, 2000, Dr. Gail Omvedt wrote an open letter in The Hindu, vituperative in content and questionable in analysis, and Hindu-baiting with emphasis on Brahmins.  This booklet is a fitting answer to the half-baked and highly prejudicial comments on Hinduism by Omvedt.  Earlier too, there have been gutter inspector’s report’s like those of Ketherine Mayor and William Archer and even in this electronic age, there have been provocative and insulting taunts against Hinduism.

Dr. Prema Nandkumar explains convincingly how the Sanatana Dharma of India from the numerous millennia has assimilated the various isms in it and could have forgiven the killer aggressors like the Turkish hordes and instal princess Sultani’s image next to the Lord Ranganatha in Srirangam.  It enfolds in its wraps such ‘isms’ as Buddism, Jainism, Taoism, Vaishnavism and Saivism and even Christianity and Islam in practice.  Sanatana Dharma has the capacity to assimilate the essence and allow each one to follow his religion or ism and yet be a part of the Hind culture.  Its the sustaining force of Indian culture.

She cites how the patriarchical Islam, after coming to India, has accepted the matriarchical system of Kerala, while the religious observations were kept private, the places of public worship were the objects of reverence of all communities.  Smilarly, the people of all religions in a particular region are dressed the same way and spoke the same slang.  Especially, in the south, the women revered the thali and loved to wear flowers and bangles and all religions professed firm faith in the rahu kalam and horoscopes.

In Sanathana Dharma, no religion is considered ‘inferior’. In Srirangam, an orthodox brahmin bows before the image of Thulukka Nachiar (a Muslim princess) and receives the prasadam of roti and butter.  Emperor Akbar got inscribed the teachings of Jesus Christ in the central bay of Jama Masjid and Buland Darwaza.  He understood that Hinduism could not be compartmentalised in terms of culture. Everyone belonged to the same culture, irrespective of the religion he professed.  Sage Narada says in ‘Savitri’ of Sri Aurobindo:

“The Son of God born as the Son of man
Has drunk the bitter cup, owned Godhead’s debt.
Gethsemane and Calvary are his lot,
He carries the cross on which man’s soul is nailed”.

This is not to ignore such aberrations as the untouchability, for instance.  The caste system was little more than the guild system of the west which has no aegis over religion or spirituality. Reformist movements like the Bhakti movement, Buddhism and Jainism tended to set the balance right from time to time.  That there were several Alwars and the Nayanars, Sants and Saints from the lower castes, who were equally revered by everyone in Bhakti movement speaks volumes.  It should be an eye-opener to psuedo-secularists and the self-seeking politicians, who always try to divide people for their own ends, instead of trying to see the unifying force of the Sanatana Dharma of the India Culture. One finds oppression of groups of other religionists in all countries.  The great Sufi saint Bule Shah of Punjab was put to untold misery, he being a Syed was the disciple of low caste Shah Inayat Qadri of Lahore, Dr. Ambedkar found to his dismay that one could change his religion and treated as inferior by those from upper castes.

She makes a forceful point about the Vandemataram (National Song) by Bankimchandra Chatterjee, which had united a whole nation in its struggle for freedom and was India’s mantra which converted the people to the religion of patriotism and the image of Mother India had thus grown in experiential spaces and was not something that was imposed on any section of the community.  And to discard the one that united us yesterday and was a precious gift of freedom on any pretext would be base ingratitude.  One entirely agrees with her. 

“Those who wish to be children of India must avoid the confusions between religious and secular symbols, just as they should learn to differentiate between the religious and secular legends of India”.

A reading of this booklet would dispel the various confusions that arise in the minds of people, regarding religion and its practice, secularism and the all encompassing Sanatana Dharma.  It throws light on how psuedo-secularists and the selfish politicians spoil the body politic for their base ends by dividing people instead of uniting them.  A book which must be read and assimilated.
-Vemaraju Narasimha Rao

FLAMES TO KINDLE; Damal Kannan, Bizz Buzz Price: Rs.150, $US 20

Like a well-trained high-wire walker, or a skilled dancer, Damal Kannan offers us breathtaking feats, while making them look easy to perform.  The poems in Flames to kindle explore science, engineering, nature, sadness, loneliness and longing with a straightforward approach that is accessible and at the same time uniquely personal and inventive.  The book is divided into two parts.  The first is a selection of Kannan’s poems and the second a selection of his haiku.  Unfortunately, many of the poems assert rather than describe or define.  While one cannot doubt the intensity of Kannan’s desire to communicate in English, his facility with the language sometimes seems insufficient to bear his ideas.  What one often finds here is an unintentional disregard for English grammar and meaning.

In a blurb on the book’s cover, it states that “Damal Kannan” is well known among India English poets” and that “his vivid images and expressions in all his poems have made it possible for him to achieve many laurels”.  And that ability to create vivid images, grab your attention and draw you into his work – and into the life and emotions found there – is one of Kannan’s most arresting and pleasing talents.

Listen to the opening lines of “Kargil”
Let my body be torn to pieces
Let my country be ready to write thesis
I will ensure to kill man’s enemies
Before I breathe my last for my country.
“Love” begins
I have come to show
The address of lost love
They have lost their lives
By only loving each other
And, perhaps best of all, “Truth”
God has created man
To seek His blessings in life
Intelligence change the man
To question what is beyond life.

In these poems Kannan’s voice is sure and exact: his vision intensely passionate. The tone is serious and dramatic, yet often enlivened with wit and humour.

The poems in Flames to Kindle are heartfelt and sincere, emerging from deep emotions and strongly held beliefs and rely on the intensity of these beliefs to overshadow clearly evident weaknesses in the poetry. As the title suggests, the poems were kindled during a long period while Kannan was working as an engineer.  The genesis of poetry was with him for a long time before it caught fire.  Almost all of the poems are short, rarely more than a page long, which means this volume presents quite a few of Kannan’s pieces.

Throughout Flames to Kindle, Kannan takes readers on a kaleidoscopic journey through his response to science and engineering which have helped him develop his ideas and put them into poetic format.  Poems such as “Galileo”, “Earthquake”, “Space Revolution”, “Big bang”, “Solar power”, “Black hole”, “International space station”, are grist to his mill.  They testify to his inexhaustible supply of material and his discipline in making them subjects for poetry.

Life is a constant struggle, both of human and animal, against the larger forces of nature:rain and sun, earth and water, earthquake and black holes.  Nor does Kannan romanticize either human or animal: they might barely react to the vagaries of life.  For example, in the poem, “Butterfly”.

Is it not believable
My faith is inconsolable
Have you breathed your last?
Is it really you are lost?

We are witness to the short life of the insect, it’s fleeting beauty and the way this affects us.

The difference between western and eastern poetry is perhaps more evident in the haiku, where Kannan works so hard to fit his haiku into the traditional Japanese mode.  However, in doing so the poems lose their spontaneity and truth to the “moment in time” captured briefly.  As an example, we’ll look at the following haiku:

Hop of butterfly
Noticed on tree for its prey
Forgot my hunger

In the west, haijin are compressing their haiku more and more, making it simpler.  It could be rewritten to give it more life, thus:

Noticed on a tree
Butterfly’s hop
I forgot hunger

Few western haijin use capital letters or punctuation in their haiku, and the syllable count is hardly recognised.  Anything under seventeen syllables seems to work well. The language of many of Kannan’s haiku is too abstract, with little attempt at compressed poetic diction or structure – less is more in haiku.  Images similarly tend to be standard and too easily understood: cows chewing, weeping sparrows (a metaphor, not to be countenanced in haiku), grey hair, black clouds, heavy rain.  But, haiku seem to contain more statements of fact or a difference of culture, Kannan does have plenty of lively images: “coconut seller”, “kites without threads”, “beggars carry a bowl” and “womb of woman”.

All in all, the poems in this collection are about the intricacies and various facts of being, brought to existence by Kannan’s knowledge of science and engineering, his feel for local colour, his love of nature and his philosophy of life.  This ambiguous sense of nature as art and art as nature is embodied throughout the tough, complex at times acidic poetry Kannan has collected.
-  Patricia Prime

EASY WAY TO LEARN DIFFICULT WORDS (Unique Etymological Dictionary) B. Theodore; Theos Publications, Darga Street, Narsapur – 534275, West Godavari Dist. A.P. pp.304, Rs.195/-.

This book is a unique Etymological Dictionary in English. The author has made a deep study.  ‘Etymology’ is borrowed from the French word ‘Etymologic’.  This word has its root in the Latin word ‘Etymologia’, which has its Greek origin in ‘Etumologia’.  ‘Etumos’ in Greek means ‘true’ and ‘logos’ means ‘account’.  Hence the Etymological Dictionary gives the true meaning of a word.

Etymology is not only interesting but also educative. But, unfortunately, English Etymology is not given due importance in Indian schools and colleges.  In vernacular schools, small children learn how to split a compound word in their vernacular and give the meaning.  Where as a University student is unable to do it in English, though many etymological dictionaries are available.  The author’s attempt to fill the gap, inspire and direct students and teachers to this branch of knowledge is commendable.

It’s not an easy task to compile an etymological dictionary.  The author’s sincere and pains-taking research to bring it within the reach of language learners is praise worthy.

This book will be useful not only to linguists but also to general readers.  The book specially deals with big words derived from Greek, Latin and French. Roots of words are given in their alphabetical order.   This book is a useful reference tool and an aid to people who wish to improve their stock of vocabulary and go deeper into word study.  It should find its place in the shelves of all libraries.
-I. Satyasree

FROM  ADAM  TO MYSELF; Dr. Manas Bakshi; Firma KLM Private Ltd., 257-B, B.B. Ganguly Street, Post Box 7818, Kolkata – 70 012; pp.64; Price: Rs.60/

From Adam to Myself – the poet is weighed down, as any sensitive being must be, by what he sees around him today.  Poem after poem voices the aches and turbulence of a bruised soul, in words and imagery that are charged and sombre.  From the days of Adam to our own days, the poet finds, things have not changed much in the world.  The war against injustice is not yet over; ‘nor has Draupadi’s shame/helpless onlookers – (Kurukshetra Contours).  The youth today are like ‘an arrow-struck bird/ (which) suffers the agonies/ of a quizzical birth’- (Youth Time – 2002).

In the present day society man is like a caged bird, cribbed on all sides.  ‘The bird knows not/how beautiful it was born / in the world of nature / Only knows how baneful it is/to be bruised by/a caged living / in a civilised society / vocal about human rights’ – (Curse – I).  A frenzy for adaptation is sweeping the land.   ‘What pains me, ‘ mourns the poet, ‘ the bird is losing its own language of life, love, copulation,’ and ‘ now dances to/ a different symphony, a raucous music/ not the music of its soul’- (Where the bird is).  And, sarcastically says the poet, ‘a round-the-year boredom/of living with individual freedoms / (is) shrinking fast amidst the luring orbit/ of Globalisation cult: ‘ – (Another Man’s Story).

The hopes at the hour of freedom have been belied.  ‘What could have been/is a forgotten dream’.  August 15^th comes and goes.  And ‘all are ready for the show/purging, atleast for a day/the centre-points/ of the rickety beggar’s shadow’ – (An August 15^th Reguiem, 1997).  It is a situation of cruel paradox one witnesses today.  The bitter broodings of the poet dwell on the scene.  ‘While dreams were there in an open basket / for purchase and sale in the Global Market, / the ordinary man had his own dream/ of a thatched house and a handful of meal’. The plunderer picks one after another fruit from the garden of human life ‘in the carnival of pullers of the string/keeping ablaze the politics / of violence, carnage and largesse’ – (Dreamy).

Dualism dominates the human profile.  The sky has turned pallid.  Birds of yesterday are now an endangered species, no more in flight – (Still Now).  Morality today has sunk low.  The scamps ‘fed on imported culture are now bare as their morbid instincts’.  Love today is a fallen fruit seeking its root. The signposts of love can only turn towards the residue of faith in free-mixing, and ‘the nidus of love freak is stinking in the open secrets of foeticide’ - (Before the Ruin?).  Will not the red cells in the middle-class blood ever blow up and become a force to conquer’s a world of wanton falsehood and frustration?, is the anguished cry of the poet - (‘Mother, My Motherland). But there seems to be no hope. Man is caught up in a Chakravyuha with no escape route.  The poet in despair wonders if ‘crucified humanity (is) awaiting resurrection at the Kaliyuga’s end’: - (In Contrast).

Even the theme of love is not strewn with roses. But then, the love sequences are among the most movingly, most delicately etched out reflections in this volume.  Here the imagery availed of, coalesces with the emotional matrix of a lover’s mind.  The broodings of the poet hover around love as fruit of a moment dropped long time or the pain associated with unrequited love, estrangement or betrayal.  Thus we hear of a lonely lady searching for someone in a furrowed mind and losing herself in ‘lost love remnants of yesterday’s world’ – (A Lonely Lady – 2). Love is a force that grows silently and burns eternally.  With the flush of memory, like sunshine after a sudden shower, the language of love is realised in ‘untold pain’ – (A Love Sequence).  The poignancy of the situation, when estranged lovers keep running into each other, is the touching theme of viewing a distanced relation from a close distance.  Here the lover is like a lonely platform in a far away remote village, where the rattle of the same train twice in a day marks the arrival and departure of the now estranged beloved.  The passengers bound for a concrete world will never realise, plaintively muses the poet,
How the drum beats
In tune with the air of betrayal
In a lonely lover’s mind.

In sum, a volume one would like to return to, for the unique enchantment of its compelling imagery and originality of verbal expression.
-Srinivasa Rangaswami

TELUGU

“KSHAMAYA DHARITRI?”; Dantu Kanaka Durga; Anand Publications, 7-19/24, Raghavendra Nagar, Nacharam, Hyderabad – 500 076. pp.218.  Rs.75/-.

Indian marriage system is one of the oldest and it has its origin in our cultural heritage.  Having taken the vow that he would take care of her, the groom seeks the hand of the bride.  The relation between husband and wife depends on mutual trust and reciprocal regard. Generally, the woman devotes most of her time and attention to serve her husband and children.  On the contrary, the man is not very much attached to the family.  He tries to seek outside pleasures and even indulges in extra-marital relationships quite easily.  Prof. Kanaka Durga’s novel revolves round this central theme and analyses the situations that arise in five different families in the story.

What should a woman do if the husband neglects her and is involved with another woman?  Should she still continue to live with him?  Can she teach him a lesson?  These are some of the important questions that nag most of the women in the present day society.  The author has suggested an interesting solution to this problem through Dharani, the main character in the novel.  She punishes her wayward husband by not revealing the truth that she is suffering from terminal breast cancer.  However, after her death, he repents for his past mistakes.

The novel contains a message.  Woman is the embodiment of patience.  She forgives and forgets.  She can bear anything and that is why she is compared to mother earth. How does she react if her patience is tested?  The author has put a question mark at the end of the title “Kshamaya Dharitri?” which is quite relevant.  The cover page which is designed by the author’s little son, Havish, displays his creativity.  The novel makes an interesting reading from start to the finish.
-I. Satyasree 

AMAHA: V. Aswini Kumar; Visalandra Publishing House, Hyderabad; pp 182; Rs.60/-

While reading this book ‘Amaha’, the first thing that would invariably strike the reader is the obvious soft and sentimental personality of its author Shri Aswini Kumar, and its unmistakable reflection all through these pages.

The author having traveled the world over, the scenarios chosen by him for these episodes vary widely, from rural India to ultra-modern cities abroad.  These short episodes, some of them probably having their roots in past real-life situations, are very interestingly depicted.  These episodes present sensitive, personal and realistic situations of modern life which more often than not go unexpressed to the outside world. The author has done a praiseworthy job in giving these situations an expression, so touching and picturesque, that the reader will invariably find himself emotionally involved.
Some of these episodes... PANJARAM, SANKELLU, PULIVETA ... etc.,have a powerful social purpose to serve, with a subtle word of advice quietly sounded to the reader, against the much prevalent thoughtless rush for emigration and settlement abroad, and against ruthless and unscrupulous means adapted in a senseless pursuit of material wealth.

Situations involving romance and sensuality are handled delicately with no obscenity allowed to find its was into these pages. The presentation is simple, the style lucid, and the language colloquial and grammatically easy-going, thus rendering the book a comfortable reading for one and all.

‘Amaha’ is a book of exciting short-stories meant for readers of all ages, and its author Shri Awaini Kumar deserves to be congratulated for this brilliant start of his long and successful literary future.
-Kambhampati Krishna Prasad