Book Reviews

Whispering Silence: by Dr. Dharam Vir Sahani. Published by Amrit Prakashan, Deshpande Complex, Hazrat Road, Naya Bazar, Gwalior (M.P.) pages 57, price Rs.l00/- $ 05.

This is the second book of poems by the author, the first being “Words Have wings” which won him the “Orpheus” Trophy awarded by the Greek cultural agency, Johannesburg, South Africa. Sahani is a poet whose soul is in a turmoil. The poet is worried at the disharmony he finds between the mind and heart of man. Science and religion have not delivered the goods. He has faith in God. Man is the darling child of God. God himself craves for human birth! Such a wonderful creation of God lives in slums where animals also refuse to live. The poet is disillusioned. Man is intelligent and manages many things, including nature but the irony is he cannot manage his life. What is tragic is he has confined god within four walls without realizing that God dwells in the form of love in his heart. What is worse, man tries to bribe God and get all his wants satisfied by God. God must be repenting for erring in creating this world and man whose negative qualities outshine his virtues.

The poet is worried that ethical and spiritual values have been superseded by material values. The present day civilization suffers from consumerist culture. The poet is yet an optimist. He tries to give cheer to man while exposing the present day ills, physical, mental and moral. He tries to correct the wrongs, giving way to “Sunshine of love and Peace”. His aim is to bring “fullness to life.” He feels that love should always heal and not harm. These and such other thoughts are deftly handled in about sixty short and very short verses which keep the reader sharing the inmost feelings of the poet. The poet’s whispering silences ring the message loud and clear. The book makes absorbing reading.
D. Ranga Rao

Bhaja Govindam: by M. Bhimasen Rao published by the author, 2nd Military lines, Berhampur. Price: Rs. 200/-

Reflections on (Sankaracharya’s) ‘Bhaja Govindam’ written by M. Bhimasen Rao is an excellent book which is well got-up, pleasing in colors and scholarly in treatment. The very look of it attracts the reader to go through it. At the beginning one finds Swami Parmarthananda’s Foreword and Prof. I. V. Chalapati Rao’s ‘Opinion’. In his elaborate Introduction the author presents the historical perspective in which Sankara’s outstanding contribution to Hindu religion should be assessed, when Buddhism declined and the country was plunged in superstition, sectarianism and the discord caused by centrifugal forces.

Sankara’s dynamic philosophy of Advaita has to be judged in the light of the drastic decline of the value system.

Sankaracharya’s Bhaja Govindam is not only the essence of his philosophy in simple slokas but a valuable message to mankind which is steeped in materialism and corruption. There is also a warning against the exploitation of the counterfeit sanyasis and fake godmen. Each sloka is in Sanskrit with its Roman script version, simplified summary in English and above all the author’s explification and comments. For the benefit of the reader, the slokas are illustrated with appropriate drawings.

This book will be a priceless possession for every library and a useful guide in life for readers, young and old.
I. Sree Devi, U.S.A.

Searching Strains and Leaves from a Diary: Late Kandukuri Ramabhadra Rao, Birth Centenary Commemoration volume, Kandukuru Pundarikakshudu, 105 R R Arcade 1-1-524 Gandhi Nagar Hyderabad – 80 pp. 172 Price Rs 50/-­

Blessed is the parent whose progeny perpetuates the memory of his forbears. The poet of Sumathi shataka in Telugu observes: “Joy for a father would not come with the birth of a son but only when people around applaud him.” In this sense Late Veerabhadra kavi is a fulfilled name.

A poet, a teacher, a children’s writer and a patriot, he left behind poems and insightful maxims in Telugu and in his own English rendering too. The French aphoristic thinker La Rochefoucauld is charged with cynicism though his Maxims have been acknowledged as brilliant. In sharp contrast Ramabhadra Rao’s epigrammatic sayings are powerful without being cynical.

The volume comprises two parts: Searching Strains and Leaves from a Diary. These are the poet/thinker’s own renderings into English. The book has an introduction by the living celebrity, the octogenarian Prof. I. V. Chalapati Rao and veterans of yester years like C. Rajagopalachary, K.R. Srinivas Iyengar and Bhogaraju Pattabhiseetaramayya who gave their accolades for the poet’s work fifty years ago.

Here is a brief sampler:

It is a rock immovable, O Sea, why dost thou labour in vain to soften its heart? It is heartless and hard, hard rock that knows not to move. Thou makest a vain appeal, day and night, in one continuous roar, patting endlessly with thy waving arms and persuading in foaming laughter. It moveth not a little, O Sea, why dost thou labour in vain sympathy? ... (Searching Strains, p.14)

“Let a ray of light shine forth, merciful Lord, I am enmeshed in these blind folds of darkness.” So did I pour forth my anguish in that midnight hour. Perchance it could reach thy ear….  (Searching Strains, p.24)

Wishes, without concomitant action for fulfillment, cause suffering. Better they are rooted out than allowed to hang on without the courage for effort. (Leaves from a Diary…p. l 09)

Cowardice is said to be the worst of all evils. One may be endowed with great qualities of head and heart. Their strength is sapped when cowardice lurks in some corner and spreads loathsome influence. Leaves from a Diary, p.l13)

Any sahridaya who reads this volume cannot but offer his or her appreciation and commendation to the worthy son of a worthy father. He seems to have great respect for his father’s sentiment when he wrote: “...it is necessary to possess strong sentiments. They summon joys and sorrows that is the salt of life. An undercurrent of happiness and gratification runs through. To minds prone to material benefits seeking opportunities, sentiments are uncomfortable accretions. They spare no pains to erase them lest they should obstruct their way of selfish pursuits. (Leaves from a Diary, p. 65)
Dr. V. V. B. Rama Rao

Puppets of Faith - Theory of Communal Strife - B.S. Murthy, Published by Self Imprint F-9, Nandini Mansion, 1-10-234, Ashoknagar, Hyderabad-500 020, Published in 2003, PP 252. Price: Rs. 165/-

The book has 27 chapters. Each is separate from the other, though there is continuity in the theme. The main theme of the book is the Muslman – Kafir problem at the world level and Hindu – Muslim disaffection at the Indian level. “The problem with a problem is that until one admits that it exists, one cannot address it, and unless it is addressed it persists”, is the rationale of the author for his quest to understand the communal problem and to suggest solutions for it.

After discussing the history and fundamental principles of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and other religions, the author concludes that the solution for the communal problem is to “Free Islam and rid it from the clutches of its fundamentalists –­ fanatics – fidayeen nexus, and make it a peaceful faith for the faithful and the others”. This conclusion of the author, is bound to make his critics ask him the question ‘What about fundamentalists and fanatics in other religions?’

In the broad spectrum of religious amity or lack of it, all over the world in general and in India in particular, Sri. Murthy focuses attention on various problems, like religious conversions, Kashmir issue, hatred in Bangladesh towards India, construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya and so on.

Regarding Hindu – Muslim harmony in India, the author states “Hindu – Muslim amity depends on Muslim willingness to address the Hindu concerns and the Hindu understanding of the Muslim fears”.

Expressing the view that the Indian Constitution, after more than 50 years of its adoption requires review to make it a more “equitable document”, Sri Murthy asks of “What avail is the right to propagate once religion for the citizen rather than to fuel the zeal of the religious zealots for converting?”

The book is informative and thought-provoking.
K. Subramanyam

Sri Guru Gita and some daily prayers- Romanization with English Rendering - Dr. V. V. B. Rama Rao. Published by Richa Prakashan, D - 36, South Extension Part-One, New Delhi - 110 049, paper, price Rs. 30.

Guru Gita, in the main, comprises of the dialogue between Lord Shiva and Parvathi Devi, which runs into one hundred and eighty-two slokas in Veda Vyasa’s Skanda Purana. In this, the Lord expostulates the primacy of the guru above all else. This apart, this book contains Sree Dakshinamoorty Strotram, Lingaashtakam, Sree Shiva Panchakshari, Sree Guru Paduka Strotram, and Adityahridayam.

In this translation, one can be certain about the authenticity of the sense of the original for Dr. Rama Rao has the feel of both the languages. Besides, his earlier works such as The Joy of the Divine, Shivapuranam, and The Walking Shiva of Varanasi exemplify his boundless enthusiasm for a like exercise.

What about the narrative style, given that Sanskrit, the original language of the subject matter, is a language of rhythm? The author himself clarifies it upfront when he states that the work is but ‘Romanization with English Rendering’.

Going by the ‘plain upright kind’ of narrative English prose he chose for conveying the sense expressed in rhythmic Sanskrit slokas, the translation is but a Romanization of the original. Be that as it may, the value of the work for all, in particular to the youth, unable as they are to comprehend the explanatory works of the Sanskrit classics brought out even in their respective mother tongues, cannot be underestimated.
B S Murthy

Madras Mosaic–N Meera Rao. Published by Parity Papers, M36A Lado Sarai, New Delhi. Pages 115, price Rs. 180.

This book comprises a score of articles dealing with the life and times, of the past and present, of the people of Chennai, formerly Madras. However, the settings chosen are all very familiar, even to the non-Madrasis, and the social intercourse therein is in the realms of the commonplace. This makes the narrative the one that seeks to picture the experiences or observations, or whatever, of the women folk, be it the Old Guard mother-in-law or the Young Turk single woman, all too predictable. Besides, the lucidity of the language and the clarity of the narrative, impart a certain colour to the fascinating mosaic. One wonders how ‘Madras Mosaic’ would have seemed in a ‘fictional mode’ instead of its ‘depictive mould’. Perhaps, greater interest of the book in the available form lies in its intermittent reading.

For the feel of the ‘Madras Mosaic’, one may have this excerpt from the “Middle-aged Mothers”.

“A new tribe of middle-aged grandmothers is multiplying in Chennai. They are perhaps in their late forties or early fifties, still full of life, and have a wide range of interests and hobbies to pursue, but no time for them. Their spouses are on the verge of retirement and have hectic post-retirement plans. But for the new breed of ‘mothers’ there is no superannuation or relaxation, because the life cycle begins all over again, a cycle involving more work and greater responsibility.

Their day begins quite early and ends rather late, and they work almost round the clock. Their routine includes - besides household chores - changing toddler’s nappies, preparing their feed, and putting them to sleep, and managing to snatch 40 winks while the young are asleep. Come evening, the whole family assembles at the dinner table, expecting a sumptuous repast. Does that leave the middle-aged grandmothers any time for themselves?”

Now what more does a ‘Madras Mosaic’ provide them is for the prospective readers to appreciate.
B S Murthy