Tag Archives: literature

Book Review: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

December 21, 2025article, literary corner, literature, Uncategorizedbook review, books, franz kafka, gregor samsa, grotesque, horror, insect, kafka, kamlesh tripathi, literature, salesman, shravan charity mission, the metamorphosisshravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a haunting and deeply symbolic novella that delves into themes of alienation, identity, and the often cruel nature of human relationships. Originally published in 1915, the story continues to resonate today for its psychological depth, bleak humour, and powerful portrayal of the human condition.

The plot is deceptively simple: Gregor Samsa, a travelling salesman, wakes up one morning to discover he has transformed into a giant insect. Kafka famously avoids explaining how or why this transformation occurs, which adds to the surreal, dreamlike tone of the work. From the outset, Gregor’s concern isn’t the loss of his human form, but the fact that he will miss work and disappoint his employer. This absurd reaction sets the tone for a story where logic, emotion, and humanity become increasingly unrecognisable.

One of the most striking aspects of The Metamorphosis is its portrayal of alienation. Gregor is alienated not just from his job and society, but eventually from his own family. At first, his transformation provokes horror but also some sympathy from his parents and sister. However, this compassion quickly fades as the family begins to view him as a burden. His sister, Grete, initially takes care of him, but over time grows resentful and distant. Kafka paints this emotional withdrawal with subtlety and cruelty — illustrating how those closest to us can become indifferent when we no longer serve a functional role in their lives.

Kafka’s writing is stark, deliberate, and unflinching. He doesn’t embellish Gregor’s insect form with fantasy or whimsy; instead, he forces the reader to dwell in the grotesque physicality of it — the twitching legs, the difficulty of movement, the slow loss of speech. The horror is not just that Gregor has changed, but that his family no longer sees him as human. This loss of identity becomes the true tragedy of the story. Gregor remains mentally human throughout, but no one can hear or understand him. In many ways, The Metamorphosis becomes a metaphor for how people who suffer — physically, mentally, or socially — are often dehumanised and discarded.

Another powerful theme is the burden of societal and familial expectations. Before his transformation, Gregor was the sole provider for his family, working a job he despised to pay off his parents’ debts. His sense of worth is entirely tied to his ability to work. Once he becomes unable to perform that role, he is treated as useless. Kafka critiques a society that values individuals only for their productivity. This message is especially relevant in modern capitalist systems, where personal value is often linked to one’s job or economic output.

The story’s ending is as bleak as it is inevitable. Gregor dies alone and unloved, and the family expresses relief. They immediately begin to plan a better future for themselves, free from the burden he represented. It is a chilling conclusion that forces readers to question how empathy and love can so easily be replaced by convenience and self-interest.

While The Metamorphosis is undeniably dark, it is also a masterwork of literary precision and philosophical inquiry. Kafka’s ability to compress such complex emotional and existential questions into a short novella is extraordinary. His vision is as surreal as it is realistic — a mirror held up to the quiet horrors of everyday life and the fragile threads that connect us to one another.

In conclusion, The Metamorphosis is an unforgettable exploration of transformation, not just in the physical sense, but in how people change — or reveal themselves — in the face of discomfort, responsibility, and fear. Kafka’s story is disturbing, moving, and profoundly human, making it a timeless piece of literature that continues to provoke thought and discussion.

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Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Book Review: The Roads of Destiny … by O Henry

September 24, 2025article, author profile, book corner, book review, Book review and excerpts, book stall, book synopsis, Uncategorizeddavid, kamlesh tripathi, literature, mutton, O Henry, poem, poems, poetry, shravan charity mission, the roads of destiny, writingshravancharitymission

O. Henry’s The Roads of Destiny may not be a structured poem, but it carries a poetic spirit by way of exploration of fate, choice, and the unpredictable nature of life. The story is about a man named David who stands at a crossroad, literally and figuratively, and each road represents a different future. Through this branching narrative, O. Henry entreats readers to ponder how small choices can lead to vastly different outcomes, and how fate can shape our lives in ways we don’t expect. Although written in prose, the theme and emotions in the story are rich with poetic meaning.

The story’s central theme is how fragile and powerful our choices could be. O. Henry conveys that even decisions that seem minor can send our lives into different directions. Life is full of small, quiet moments that later turn out to be incredibly important. A step to the left or the right might not seem significant in the moment, but later it could be the reason why everything changed. Every decision holds a potential. Life is made up of many such turning points, often unrecognized until we look back.

Closely tied to personal choice is the grip of fate. In each stage of David’s life, no matter which road he takes, he ends up facing difficult or tragic outcomes. This suggests that fate has a stronger grip on our lives than we would like to believe. The author doesn’t present fate as something harsh or cruel, but rather as mysterious and unpredictable. We walk ahead thinking we know where we’re going. But the road can suddenly curve into a completely unexpected direction. This uncertainty gives life its beauty and its difficulty. The poetic lesson here is that though we may have no control where the road leads to, we still have to walk it.

Life’s unpredictability is another theme that gives the story its emotional weight. David’s various life unfolds in unexpected ways, proving that no plan is ever guaranteed. Even when we try to do the right thing or follow a certain path, we can’t guarantee how things will turn out. O. Henry’s storytelling reminds us that surprises, both joyful and tragic, are always around the corner and they will get you. This paradigm of unpredictability is common in poetry, where meaning often emerges in layers and can shift with time or mood. Just like an intricate poem, life unfolds with twists and surprises that challenge our understanding.

Time also plays a pivotal role in the story. It moves forward no matter which path David takes, and it never pauses or gives him a second chance. The passing of time gives weight to our choices because we rarely get an opportunity to revisit them. This is another idea that feels deeply poetic: time is always moving, and once a moment passes, it becomes a memory. The story implores readers to be mindful of the time they have and the decisions they make within it. It also encourages reflection. Looking back at the roads we’ve taken and wondering how things might have been different.

Regret and reflection are intertwined themes that show up throughout David’s story. Each life he lives seems to carry a shadow of what might have been if he had chosen to live differently. This idea is emotionally powerful because almost everyone, at some point, has wondered “what if?” Regret isn’t always a loud or dramatic feeling. It can be quiet, something that lingers as we look back into the past. O. Henry captures this subtle emotion in a way that feels similar to poetry, where a single line can express a lifetime of feeling.

The author uses irony in a poetic way. In each of David’s paths, he faces hardships despite choosing different directions. This irony teaches us that even when we try to avoid danger or seek happiness, we can’t always escape what life has in store for us. The roads of destiny seem to curve back towards difficulty no matter which road he chooses. This twist reflects O. Henry’s trademark storytelling style. In poetry, irony often reveals the hidden truths and helps readers think more deeply about life’s contradictions.

Perspective is another layer that deepens the story’s meaning. Often, we only understand the importance of a choice or event after the time has passed. What appears small at the moment may turn out to be life-changing. Just as a poem seems confusing at first and later makes perfect sense, our understanding of our own lives also changes with the perspective. This reminds us to look at our lives with curiosity and patience. The meaning of life sometimes reveals itself slowly.

All these ideas connect to the phrase “difficult poems make easy mutton.” Though it’s a playful and unusual expression, it captures an important truth: sometimes, the things that are hardest to understand at first—like complex poems or life’s confusing events—can later become clear and deeply meaningful. Just as tough meat becomes tender after careful preparation, a difficult story or experience can eventually offer comfort, insight, or wisdom. The Roads of Destiny is that kind of story. At first glance, it seems simple, but the more you think about it, the more it says about life, choice, and the strange, beautiful mystery of where we end up.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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BOOK REVIEW: THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

August 18, 2025book review, book review, book synopsis, book synopsis, book talk,, Uncategorizedassyrian mounds, austin henry layard, book-reviews, books, british museum, enkidu, flood, historical-fiction, iraq, ishtar, kamlesh tripathi, literature, mesopotamia, mesopotamiam, nimrud, nineveh, nk sandars, penguin, shravan charity mission, tablets, the epic of gilgamesh, uruk, utnapishtimshravancharitymission

The review refers to the Penguin Classics edition titled ‘The Epic of Gilgamesh’. The title is compact, about 125 pages, but accurately informative. The Epic poem is broadly narrated in prose. This English version with a lucid and accessible translation, and an introduction by N.K. Sandars is quite suitable for comprehending the gist of the work. The edition also offers practical tools like a glossary of names and a map of the ancient Orient. ‘The work of synthesis has been accomplished with a remarkable degree of tact and imagination,’ writes The Times Literary Supplement, a literary review platform. The spine of the book is divided into two broad parts: One is the ‘Long Introduction’ of 59 pages, followed by the text of ‘The Epic of Gilgamesh’.

The ‘Long Introduction’ is divided into multiple parts. It begins with the primitive history of the Epic and the discovery of the tablets on which the Epic is written. The tablets pertain to the heroic age of excavation in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1839, a young Englishman, Austin Henry Layard, set off with a friend on an overland journey to Ceylon, but in Mesopotamia, he was delayed by a reconnaissance of Assyrian mounds. The delay of weeks was stretched to years, but it was at a time when Nineveh and Nimrud (cities in Iraq) were excavated. It was from these excavations that Layard brought back to the British Museum a great part of the collection of Assyrian sculptures, along with thousands of broken tablets from the palace of Nineveh. When Layard began excavating at Nineveh, he hoped to find inscriptions, but in reality, what he found was a buried library and a lost literature.

The book gives a historical and literary perspective of the Epic. It recounts the protagonists of the Epic. It describes the principal Gods of the Epic in bits and tells the story.

The second part of the book opens with the introduction of Gilgamesh in Uruk. It is followed by the entry of Enkidu, their journey to the forest, followed by the appearance of brash and proud Ishtar (the goddess of fertility, love, sex, and beauty). Ishtar is enraged when Gilgamesh rejects her marriage proposal. This is followed by the death of Enkidu. Thereafter, Gilgamesh goes in search of everlasting life. He learns about the profound truth from Utnapishtim, who isthe king of Shuruppak, an ancient city in Mesopotamia. He learns from him that “Life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share, and life withheld in their own hands.” The message is clear: immortality is beyond human reach. The narration then goes on to tell the story of the flood myth. ‘For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts. When the seventh day dawned, the storm from the south subsided, the sea grew calm, the flood was stilled; I looked at the face of the world and there was silence, all mankind was turned to clay.’ The message was: Death is inevitable. The narration further describes the return of Gilgamesh, and equally moving are the verses that conclude the epic, climaxing with Gilgamesh’s death.

“The king has laid himself down and will not rise again,

The Lord of Kullab will not rise again,

He overcame evil; he will not come again,

Though he was strong of arm, he will not rise again”.

These lines express the splendour of the work. It leaves the reader with a sense of decisiveness and reflects on the frailty of life. Though translated into prose, the text retains a sense of grandeur and weight. The language, while sometimes lacking the fluidity of modern English, conveys the heft and rhythm of an ancient oral tradition. Certain passages are especially striking, such as the description of the flood.

The Epic of Gilgamesh remains not only a foundational work of Mesopotamian literature. It is also one of humanity’s earliest explorations of universal themes, such as friendship, the inevitability of death, and the search for meaning in the face of mortality. This Penguin Classics edition, with Sandars’ insightful introduction and careful translation, makes the epic accessible to modern readers without losing its ancient depth.

Written & posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Literature: Rejected Then Revered–The Literary Life and Afterlife of American Author Herman Melville

July 12, 2025article, author profile, autobiography, book review, column, kamlesh tripathi, literary corner, literature, Uncategorizedahab, book review, books, cannibals, hawthorne, herman melville, ishmael, kamlesh tripathi, literature, mardi, moby dick, omoo, rejected then revered the literary life and afterlife of american author herman melville, shravan charity mission, typee, whaling shipshravancharitymission

Any struggling author might find consolation in knowing that Herman Melville (1819-1891) didn’t have it so easy, either. His story of literary success and failure is as relevant now as it was in his time. An author makes a splash on the literary scene, and the public demands more of the same, only to find that the author has moved on. His growth as a writer no longer allows him to produce the same type of work that the public wants, and his stardom begins to fade. This is how we understand Melville today as a misunderstood genius. His stardom extended beyond the circumference of his readers’ taste.

Travel narratives were once the most popular genre in the nineteenth century. Americans were fascinated by foreign cultures, specifically, as a means to understand their place in the global world. Today, we recognise Melville for his whale of a masterpiece, Moby-Dick. But it was his first two works, Typee and Omoo, that made him most famous. Typee was an autobiographical travel narrative based on his real-life experience of being held captive by cannibals after he deserted the whaling ship Acushnet in 1841. The cannibals on the Marquesas Islands were fortunately friendly and fun-loving, and Melville was able to leave and find his way back home. People were captivated by the exotic story, and the title Typee made Melville an immediate sensation. He followed it up with “Omoo,” another adventure story set in the Polynesian islands, and it appeared as though Melville had a long way to literary fame ahead of him.

With new fame, a new wife, and a blossoming friendship with fellow writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, Melville began working on another novel. In 1849, he published Mardi, a novel that marked a shift in style and substance. Like Hawthorne, Melville also became interested in writing romance, in which he was free to create a work based on symbolic representations of ideas rather than specific facts from his real life.

Mardi was a forerunner to Moby-Dick. The book was panned by readers and rejected by the public, who just wanted to hear exciting sea-faring adventures.

Melville’s masterpiece, Moby-Dick, in many ways was a patchwork. It was a mix of styles, narrative, points of view, and literary forms. It contained dictionary entries, word etymologies, whaling manual entries, elaborate, contorted sentence structures, and biblical allusions. It was part comedy, part tragedy, and part epic. For all its complexity, the book was a masterful mix of all these features and was regarded as a work of genius.

Moby-Dick starts with that iconic line in literature: “Call me Ishmael.” Ishmael, the narrator of the book, decides he has had enough of land and joins the crew of a whaling ship, named Pequod. As he waits to set sail, he finds himself sharing a room at an inn with another crew member, Queequeg, a cannibal and harpooner from the South Seas, and they quickly form an unlikely friendship. They don’t meet their mysterious captain, Ahab, until after the ship sets sail. Ahab announces to the crew that this will not be a run-of-the-mill whaling trip. They are on a mission to find a formidable white whale named Moby Dick, which once claimed Ahab’s leg in a violent attack and destroyed his ship. The crew is now part of Ahab’s monomaniacal quest to avenge his attack. They encounter Moby Dick three times, until the great White Whale finally crushes the ship, taking Ahab down with it into the vortex of the sea after the rope of Ahab’s harpoon catches his own neck. Ishmael is the only crew member who survives to tell the tale, floating atop Queequeg’s coffin.

At its core, Moby-Dick is an allegorical quest narrative, but the complexity of the book lends itself to multiple interpretations. Some readers view it as a cautionary tale about the hubris of humanity in attempting to control nature, while others see Ahab’s mission to kill Moby Dick as a fight against evil. Others interpret it as Ahab’s obsession as a battle against evil, or even as a search for God or divine truth. For both Ahab and Ishmael, the whale is the centre of the book, a mysterious, gigantic creature that symbolises the ineffability of nature. Both try to come to terms with the whale – Ahab with his harpoon and Ishmael with his exhaustive lists of whale anatomy, dictionary of whaling terms, and passages clipped from whaling manuals.

The name “Ishmael” itself is symbolic. In the Bible, Ishmael is the outcast son of Abraham, suggesting that Melville’s narrator is a kind of societal outsider, observing life from the margins.

Moby-Dick barely made a ripple when it was published. It took more than seventy years for it to come into its own, finally recognised as the literary masterpiece it is. Hawthorne, to whom the book was dedicated, was one of the few people who praised the book.

After the early success of Typee and Omoo, Melville never again found popular acclaim. The rest of his life was spent writing in obscurity, disillusioned by the need to cater to the public’s tastes in order to survive. Many of his works after Moby-Dick, such as the short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” a parable about the incompatibility of commerce and the human spirit, and The Confidence-Man, a book satirising the level of faith people like Emerson put in the goodness of human nature, are testaments to his bitterness. Melville died relatively unknown but has now become recognised as the author of (in some minds) “the great American novel.”

The next time you go to pick up that cup of Starbucks, remember this fun fact: Starbucks is named after Starbuck, the first mate of the illustrious Pequod.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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HUXLEY’S TAKE ON TRANSLATED WORKS, BHAVAN’S JOURNAL

April 6, 2025article, book launch, book talk,, casual causerie, column, Uncategorizedaldous huxley, article, colloquialism, kamlesh tripathi, literature, maxim gorky, russian writer, shravan charity mission, translated worksshravancharitymission

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INDIA AFLOAT LIKE THE SHIP OF THESEUS

March 3, 2025Uncategorizedhinduism, india, invaders, kamlesh tripathi, literature, mahabharat, Mahakhumbh, poems, poetry, Ram Rajya, ship of theseus, shravan charity mission, writingshravancharitymission

Resilient India, much like the Ship of Theseus, has undergone profound and continuous transformations over the centuries, yet its essence remains remarkably consistent. The Ship of Theseus’s paradox is a classic philosophical thought experiment that queries whether an object that has had all its parts replaced over time can still be considered the same object. The paradox raises fundamental questions about identity, continuity, and change—questions that can be deeply applied to the story of India.

During its primordial history, India has been subjected to multiple invasions, foreign influences, colonial rule, and internal upheavals. From the early invasions of the Mughals to British colonisation, followed by independence and the ongoing evolution of its society, India has seen drastic political, social, and cultural changes. Yet, despite these transformations, India has retained its core identity, much like the Ship of Theseus, which, although constantly repaired and refurbished, still retains its function and spirit. The question, then, arises: Is India still the same India after all these changes? Or has it become something fundamentally different?

The analogy of the “rotting planks” and the “invaders” is especially apt in this context. India’s history has been marked by waves of foreign influence and control. Yet, like the ship that stays afloat even as its parts and planks are gradually replaced, India has managed to preserve its relevance through the centuries. The country’s resilience and ability to absorb and adapt to these changes demonstrate its remarkable continuity.

Hinduism, in particular, serves as an example of this enduring continuity. Despite the multiple invasions, foreign rule, and the introduction of different religions and philosophies, Hinduism has not only survived but has thrived. It has evolved, integrating new ideas and practices, yet its core spiritual principles have remained unchanged. Hinduism flourished during ancient times, including the Ram Rajya and Mahabharata, and even after the numerous foreign invasions, it continues to flourish even today. (Mahakumbh is a live example of that).

The Ship of Theseus’s paradox becomes even more compelling when we apply it to India’s history. Just as the ship’s identity persists even as its parts are replaced, India’s identity remains intact, even though it has undergone substantial transformations. Over the centuries, India has experienced numerous political and cultural shifts—each of these changes can be seen as the replacement of one “plank” of the ship. British colonial rule introduced new administrative systems, ideologies, and governance structures, while independence and partition created dramatic changes in India’s political landscape.

Yet, beneath these changes, the core of India remains the same. The specific manifestations of India’s identity may have shifted over time, but its fundamental essence remains intact. India’s ability to absorb external influences while maintaining its unique cultural identity is what allows it to continue to thrive, much like a ship that, despite repairs and refurbishments, retains its original course.

The paradox of identity that the Ship of Theseus presents raises important philosophical questions: If every component of India has changed over the centuries, is it still the same India? Or is it a new entity altogether? From a metaphysical perspective, the answer may lie in the idea that identity is not static. Just as the ship retains its spirit even as its physical form changes, India retains its soul even as its political, social, and cultural structures evolve.

India’s story, then, is one of dynamic continuity. It is a living, breathing entity that evolves while retaining the essence of its civilization. Each phase of India’s history—whether the ancient period, the medieval era, the colonial period, or post-independence India—adds a new layer to the country’s identity. These layers are not a sign of India losing its original self, but rather of a nation that is constantly redefined, reshaped, and yet always remains connected to its roots. Just like the Ship of Theseus, India’s identity is not determined by the individual parts but by the broader spirit that she carries through time.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Publications of Kamlesh Tripathi

BOOK TITLE: GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in eight prestigious libraries of the US which include Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed at MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in the libraries and archives of Canada; the Open Library; Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai; Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, India; Shoolini University, Yogananda Knowledge Center, Himachal Pradesh and Azim Premzi University, Bangalore and the Library of Cancer Aid and Research Foundation, Mumbai. The title also finds a mention in a book titled ‘Enduring Cancer: Life, Death and Diagnosis in Delhi’ by Dwaipayan Banerjee published by the Duke University Press).

BOOK TITLE: ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(It is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi; It is also available for reading in the Indian National Bibliography, March 2016, in the literature section, in Central Reference Library, Ministry of Culture, India, Belvedere, Kolkata-700022)

BOOK TITLE: AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(This is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity, which is the undying characteristic of Lucknow. The book was launched at the Lucknow International Literary Festival in 2014. It is catalogued and included for reading in Askews and Holts Library Services, Lancashire, U.K; Herrick District Library, Holland; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA; Black Gold Cooperative Library Administration, Arroyo Grande, California; Berkeley Library, University of California; The Peshastin Public Library and The George Public Library near Washington, a Northern Central Washington Libraries branch; the Flagstaff City-Coconino County Public Library in Arizona in the US and the Salina Public Library, Kansas, USA.

BOOK TITLE: REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched at the Lucknow International Literary Festival in 2016).

BOOK TITLE: TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his way through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen but for any reader. The book was launched on 10^th February 2018 at Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

BOOK TITLE: RHYTHM … IN POEMS

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems are about our day-to-day life. Poems from this book have been published in Shillong Times, Bandra Times, Bhavan’s Journal and Arunachal Times and Goan net. The book is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

BOOK TITLE: MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

BOOK TITLE: AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(It is the story of the man who received His Holiness The Dalai Lama and his retinue in 1959 as a GOI representative when he fled Tibet in 1959. The book was launched on 21^st November 2022 by His Holiness The Dalai Lama at Dharmshala. The title is archived in the library of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) Government of Tibet, Tibet Policy Institute (TPI) and the personal library of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. The title is also archived in The Ohio Digital Library, USA. It was recently included in the digital library of the world-renowned company APPLE. Included in the library of Friends of Tibet and Maharashtra Mitra Mandal Library in Bandra, Mumbai.

(POEMS, SHORT STORIES AND ARTICLES OF KAMLESH TRIPATHI PUBLISHED IN NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES)

TIMES OF INDIA

Speaking Tree: Basant Celebrates Ma Saraswati, Shiv, And Spring 1.2.25; 2. Mahashivratri: A Night of Divine Illumination, 26.2.25;

BHAVANS JOURNAL

Short stories, Book reviews and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: 1. Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; 2. Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; 3. Eagle versus Scholars, June, 15 & 20, 2020; 4. Indica, 15.8.20; 5. The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; 6. Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. 7. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; 8. Happy Days, November 15, 2020; 9. The Karma Cycle of Paddy and Wheat, December 15, 2020; 10. Power Vs Influence, January 31, 2021; 11. Three Refugees, March 15, 2021; 12. Rise and Fall of Ajatashatru, March 31, 2021; 13. Reformed Ruler, May 15, 2021; 14. A Lasting Name, May 31, 2021; 15. Are Animals Better Teachers? June 16, 2021; 16. Book Review: The Gram Swaraj, 1.7.21; 17. Right Age for Achievements, 15.7.21; 18. Big Things Have Small Beginnings, 15.8.21; 19. Where is Gangaridai?, 15.9.21; 20. Confront the Donkey Within You 30.9.21; 21. Know Your Strengths 15.10.21; 22. Poverty 15.11.21; 23. Top View 30.11.21; 24. The Bansuriwala 15.1.22; 25. Sale of Alaska 15.2.22; 26. The Dimasa Kingdom 28.2.22;27. Buried Treasure 15.4.22; 28. The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha 30.4.22; 29. Who is more useful? 15.5.22; 30. The White Swan from Lake Mansarovar 30.6.22; 31. Bhool Bhulayya 15.9.22; 32. Good Karma 30.9.22; 33. Good Name vs Bad Name 15.10.22; 34. Uttarapath—The Grand Trunk Road 1.12.22; 35. When Gods Get Angry 1.1.23; 36. Holinshed’s Chronicles 15.1.23; 37. Theogony 15.2.23; 38. Poem: Mother 14.5.23; 39. The Nag Mandir 30.6.23; 40. The Story of Garuda 30.7.23; 41. Janmabhoomi vs Karmabhoomi 31.8.23; 42. The Ghost Town of Kuldhara 15.9.23; 43. The Tale of Genji 15.10.23; 44. The Soul Connection 1.12.23; 45.Book review: Jungle Nama … a story of the Sundarban 16.3.24; 46. Book review: A Forgotten Chapter 16.5.24; 47. Exploring Ancient Egypt, 1.8.24; 48. The Story of Dhruva, 16.8.24; 49. Two Hundred Years of Tea in Assam 16.9.24; 50. The Cosmic Messenger 16.10.24; 51. Biblioburro: The Four-Legged Library 16.11.24; 52. The Cologne Cathedral 1.1.25; 53. Gandhi to Mahatma 16.1.25;

THE SHILLONG TIMES

Articles & Poems: 1. Poem: Happy New Year 8.1.23; 2.Poem: Spring 12.3.23; 3.Poem: Right and Wrong 20.3.23; 4. The Gush of Emotion—Writing, 26.3.23; 5. The Nag Mandir, 7.5.23; 6. Poem: Mother 7.5.23; 7. Poem: Rain Rain 9.7.23; 8. Poem: You Come Alone You Go Alone 6.8.23; 9. Poem: Rain Rain (Second Time) 10.8.23; 10. Poem: Guru Teacher 1.10.23; 11. Poem: Autumn … The Interim Heaven 15.10.23; 12. Poem: Happy Diwali 12.11.23; 13. Overcoming Blindness: Learn it the John Milton Way 10.12.23; 14. The Happy Prince and The Happy Man’s Shirt 31.12.23; 15. Annus Mirabilis -2024 7.1.24; 16. Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi- Incidents that Shaped Gandhi in South Africa 28.1.24; 17. Poem: Together But Not Made For Each Other, 11.2.24; 18. The Birds Bees and The Spiders of Nicholas Guildford and Jonathan Swift 25.2.24; 19. The Overcoats of Nikolai Gogol and Ruskin Bond 10.3.24; 20. The Ethnic Colours of Holi 24.3.24; 21. A Lesson from Dalai Lama, 21.4.24; 22. Poem: Morning Walk 28.4.24; 23. Trip to Rhine Falls, Switzerland, 19.5.24; 24. Poem: Hurt 2.6.24; 25. Poem: Your Conscience Was My Sign On 16.6.24; 26.Poem: The Eerie Ways of Time 7.7.24; 27.Poem: Celebrating the T20 World Champions 14.7.24;28. Read to Rise above mediocrity, 4.8.24; 29. Poem: Desire vs Reality 11.8.24; 30. Jack Ma’s Pristine Advice to Employers, Employees and the Youth 22.9.24; 31. Tagore and Kipling 3.11.24; 32. Poem: Merry Christmas 22.12.24; 33. Poem: The Sunset Point, 5.1.25; 34. Cancer Warning Labels on Alcoholic Beverages, 12.1.25; 35. Poem: Hope … In the Arc of Twilight, 19.1.25; 36. Basant Panchami, celebrates the Arrival of Spring 2.2.25; 37. Poem: The Falling World Order, 9.2.25; 38. A Peep into Native American Literature’

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

Article: 1. The Magic of Reading 11.12.23; 2. Gandhi to Mahatma 29.1.24; 3. Geography of Solitude 8.4.24; 4. A Lesson From Dalai Lama, 22.4.24; 5. A Source of Inspiration, 29.4.24; 6. The Four-Legged Library, 12.5.24; 7. Age and Achievement, 10.6.24; 8. Read … To Rise Above Mediocrity, 1.7.24; 9. Crusade for a College, 25.8.24; 10. Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory (Panorama) 27.9.24; 11. Short story: Love in the Air, 20.10.24; 12. Short story: The Prick of Conscience, 5.1.25; 13. Lost in translation, 6.1.25; 14. Travellers’ tales 20.1.2025; 15. Audit your days 17.2.25;

THE ARUNACHAL TIMES

Poem: 1. Hope—In The Arc of Twilight, 13.8.23; 2.Poem: Spring 3.3.24; 3.Poem: The Morning Walk 10.3.24;

BANDRA TIMES, MUMBAI

Articles & Poems: 1. Poem: SPRING, 1.4.23; 2. Poem: Mother, 1.6.23; 3. Poem: Rain Rain, 1.8.23; 4. A Lesson From Dalai Lama, 1.6.24; 5. Read to rise above Mediocrity 1.8.24

THE GOAN NET

Poem: 1. Autumn – The Interim Heaven, 6.10.24; 2. Reader’s Rewind 17.11.84; 3. Reader’s Rewind: The Irony of Tash Moustache or Mooch 5.12.24; 4. The Sunset Point 22.12.24; 5. Reader’s Rewind: The Joy of a Morning Walk, 3.1.25; 6. Harmony in creation 26.1.25; 7. Poem: What is truly Good for me? 2.1.25; 8. Poem: We both were left behind, 9.2.25; 9. India Afloat like Ship of Theseus; 10. Maha Shivratri: A night of divine illumination, spiritual awakening, 26.2.25;

ARTICLES IN THE DIGITALARTICLES IN THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI

Aritcles: 29.12.2020: Indica by Megasthenes; 14.3.22: About The Dimasa Kingdom Assam; 10.12.22: Grand Trunk Road–Uttarapath; 5.10.23: The Ghost Town of Kuldhara Near Jaisalmer;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

READER’S REWIND: CANCER WARNING LABELS ON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

January 9, 2025article, Uncategorizedak47, alexander fleming, america, bonsack, cigarettes, eadweard muybridge, history, kalashnikov, kamlesh tripathi, liquor, literature, oppenheimer, penicillin, shravan charity mission, story, surgeon general, usa, writingshravancharitymission

The Surgeon General of USA, Dr Vivek Murthy has reignited a public health debate by proposing cancer warning labels on alcoholic beverages. Murthy’s proposal accompanied a new advisory, highlighting, growing evidence, linking alcohol consumption to several types of cancer. Cigarettes have already been in that category for a long time now. I wonder what the liquor companies must be feeling about this warning.

The scientists and inventors might create something with a noble intention. But the depraved minds may commandeer it for minatory motives. Frankly speaking, inventions do leave an indelible legacy behind, where some may turn out to be serenades of life and some the hounding baggage, difficult to haul.

Scottish physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering penicillin. Penicillin was later developed as an antibiotic to kill bacteria. Since then it has saved many lives. Fleming therefore must have left the world with pleasant memories of his invention.

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, a powerful explosive that caused significant destruction. He made a fortune from this invention. However, during his lifetime, he came to realize that dynamite posed a serious threat to humanity. In response, he later bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prize for Excellence.

Conversely, Eadweard Muybridge, often called the ‘father of the motion picture’ must have left the world with glorious recollections. But this isn’t the case with General Mikhail Kalashnikov the creator of the AK-47 assault rifle, even though it was designed for the defence of his country. Kalashnikov was an author and a poet too. Later he rose to be a general with innovative attributes, but his inventions appear to be for the wrong causes. Kalashnikov maintained that his rifle was an ‘armament for defence and not a weapon of offence.’ Yet, numerous killings took place with his invention.

Kalashnikov claimed he was always motivated by service to the nation rather than money. But the rifle that was once good for the nation was used by terrorists in illegal and dreadful killings. In the final years of his life, he was saddened by the awry responsibility for the millions of deaths that his invention perpetrated. This was revealed, in his published letter to the head of the Russian Church. Kalashnikov died at the age of 94. In his interviews, he insisted that he created the AK-47 assault rifle only to protect his country, and rejected the responsibility for killings, perpetrated by zealots and terrorists using his invention.

Kalashnikov didn’t have a simple life. To find peace, like Alfred Nobel and Oppenheimer, Kalashnikov too retired to a quiet life in the hope of experiencing a godly touch sometime and somewhere before death.

Surely, inventions do leave a legacy behind. Some legacies are insurmountable for the soul to carry through. But sadly, the inventor only realizes that when it’s too late in life.

The story remains deficient without knowing what Oppenheimer must have felt after the atomic bombs exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did he feel exalted or miserable only he’d be able to tell? But of course, the sting of karma does follow you beyond the frontiers of your present life.

James Albert Bonsack invented the cigarette-rolling machine in 1880 for which he got an American patent in 1881. But how must he be feeling about his invention today? It is exactly not known who invented liquor, but the earliest evidence of alcohol dates back to around 7,000 BCE in China. Perhaps they were discovered accidentally by pre-agricultural cultures, so whom should we blame except for the present-day breweries or the consumers themselves? Clean air to breathe is a precious gift from Mother Earth, but it has been polluted by human activity. Polluted air too has become a killer like alcohol and cigarettes. So what must Mother Earth be thinking? And what is the essence of inventions vis-a-vis life? Should we stop researching for inventions or manage inventions well? The sane answer is to manage inventions well and teach moderation. Any habit in moderation is manageable—surely Dr Murthy must know that well enough. And for the inventors, one can’t even say that inventions should not be like the Brahmastra of Maharathi Ashwatthama of Mahabharat fame, who knew how to invoke the Brahmastra but did not know how to retract it because the folly of the invention is known much later and in many cases after the inventor has left the world.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Publications of Kamlesh Tripathi

BOOK TITLE: GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

BOOK TITLE: ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

BOOK TITLE: AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

BOOK TITLE: REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

BOOK TITLE: TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

BOOK TITLE: RHYTHM … IN POEMS

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems are about our day-to-day life. Poems from this book have been published in Shillong Times, Bandra Times, Bhavan’s Journal and Arunachal Times and Goan Net. The book is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

BOOK TITLE: MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

BOOK TITLE: AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(POEMS, SHORT STORIES AND ARTICLES OF KAMLESH TRIPATHI PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES)

BHAVANS JOURNAL

THE SHILLONG TIMES

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

THE ARUNACHAL TIMES

Poem: 1. Hope—In The Arc of Twilight, 13.8.23; 2.Poem: Spring 3.3.24; 3.Poem: The Morning Walk 10.3.24;

BANDRA TIMES, MUMBAI

Articles & Poems: 1. Poem: SPRING, 1.4.23; 2. Poem: Mother, 1.6.23; 3. Poem: Rain Rain, 1.8.23; 4. A Lesson From Dalai Lama, 1.6.24; 5. Read to rise above Mediocrity 1.8.24

THE GOAN NET

ARTICLES IN THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI

Aritcles: 29.12.2020: Indica by Megasthenes; 14.3.22: About The Dimasa Kingdom Assam; 10.12.22: Grand Trunk Road–Uttarapath; 5.10.23: The Ghost Town of Kuldhara Near Jaisalmer;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

AUTHOR ALDOUS HUXLEY’S TAKE ON TRANSLATED WORKS

January 1, 2025article, Uncategorizedaldous huxley, booker prize, books, geetanjali shree, hertzian waves, kamlesh tripathi, literature, maxim gorky, poem, poetry, russian writer, shravan charity mission, story, the tomb of sand, translated, writingshravancharitymission

‘An author whom we have read only in translation and have no direct acquaintance; we only have to infer him. Entities such as ultraviolet light and Hertzian waves are invisible and intangible. Still, they produce observable effects on the world around them, and from these effects, we can infer the nature of the forces which produce them. It is the same with literature which we cannot read in its original language. Such literature produces certain observable effects upon the translator and from the nature of these effects, we can infer the nature of their cause. It will be possible to draw a reasonably accurate inference from a good translation than from a bad one. But even the best translation permits only inferential knowledge, never of direct acquaintance with the spirit and essence of the original. In most cases the substitution of inferential knowledge for direct acquaintance results in a loss to the reader. Though not always.’ Wrote renowned author Aldous Huxley.

Huxley dwells on the challenges of understanding literature through translations and the complexities of portraying virtuous characters in fiction. He begins by drawing a parallel between the process of understanding works of literature in translation and the way we infer the existence of invisible forces like ultraviolet light based on their effects. He argues that while translations offer indirect knowledge of a script, they cannot replicate the direct and original experience of reading the original text. The quality of the translation influences how accurately we can present the essence of the original work.

Huxley uses Russian writer Maxim Gorky’s works to illustrate his point. (Gorky was nominated for the Nobel Prize five times but was never awarded one). He explains that Gorky’s writing is difficult to translate because much of its depth lies in the texture of his language, which cannot be fully captured in another language. For Gorky, the meaning often arises from shifts in tone and style within his prose, from brutal colloquialism to moments of lyrical intensity.

Huxley dwells into a wider rumination on the portrayal of virtuous characters in literature. He points out that many writers have found it difficult to depict goodness in a complex, intelligent, and grown-up manner. Characters who are virtuous in literature are often portrayed with flaws—such as ignorance, childishness, or social naivety—because a perfect, intelligent, and virtuous character would be uncomfortable for readers, who might feel inferior in comparison. By portraying virtuous characters with defects, writers allow readers to maintain a sense of superiority.

In the foreword that Huxley wrote for Maxim Gorky’s short stories, he reflects on two main topics: the difficulty of understanding literature in translation and the challenge of portraying virtuous characters in fiction. While translations provide indirect knowledge, they cannot replace the direct experience of reading the original text. The quality of a translation affects how accurately we can grasp the original work’s essence.

He uses Maxim Gorky’s writing as an example. He explains that Gorky’s work is hard to translate because its depth lies in the texture of his language, which is difficult to convey in another language. Gorky’s writing shifts from harsh, everyday language to moments of beauty and lyricism, which create a unique emotional quality that can be inferred even in imperfect translations.

His analysis of Maxim Gorky’s translated works highlights the challenges and insights that arise from engaging with literature in translation. Huxley emphasizes that while translations offer inferential knowledge of the original text, they can never fully convey the essence and spirit of the original work. The act of translating, especially for a writer like Gorky, inevitably distorts certain subtleties, particularly the use of verbal texture to convey complex ideas.

He identifies a key aspect of Gorky’s writing: his reliance on the surface quality of his language to express deeper themes, particularly the tension between the brutality of life and the potential for beauty and goodness beneath it. Gorky’s unique stylistic approach includes sudden transitions from harsh, colloquial language to lyrical and elevated expressions. This modulation, though powerful in the original Russian, is difficult to capture in translation, but even poor translations reveal Gorky’s expressive intent. Gorky is notable for creating good characters who are not idealized, but rather flawed in some way. These characters, like Gorky’s “hermit,” may be well-meaning but naïve, uneducated, or socially unaware. Huxley observes that this difficulty in portraying virtuous characters reflects a broader challenge in literature.

In summary, Huxley’s insights underscore the challenge of translating not only language but also the unique texture and subtleties of a writer’s style. While some of Gorky’s thematic and artistic intentions can be inferred from translations, the richness of his original expression remains elusive, highlighting the complexities inherent in literary translation.

But have things changed now, especially with technology? The ‘Tomb of Sand’, a 2018, Hindi-language novel by Geetanjali Shree, was the first translated novel from an Indian language to win the International Booker Prize in 2022. The book was originally titled ‘Ret Samadhi’ and was translated into English by Daisy Rockwell. Does this impair Aldous Huxley’s theory? Can translated novels become better than the original version?

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Publications of Kamlesh Tripathi

BOOK TITLE: GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

BOOK TITLE: ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

BOOK TITLE: AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

BOOK TITLE: REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

BOOK TITLE: TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

BOOK TITLE: RHYTHM … IN POEMS

BOOK TITLE: MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

BOOK TITLE: AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(POEMS, SHORT STORIES AND ARTICLES OF KAMLESH TRIPATHI PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES)

BHAVANS JOURNAL

THE SHILLONG TIMES

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

THE ARUNACHAL TIMES

Poem: 1. Hope—In The Arc of Twilight, 13.8.23; 2.Poem: Spring 3.3.24; 3.Poem: The Morning Walk 10.3.24;

BANDRA TIMES, MUMBAI

Articles & Poems: 1. Poem: SPRING, 1.4.23; 2. Poem: Mother, 1.6.23; 3. Poem: Rain Rain, 1.8.23; 4. A Lesson From Dalai Lama, 1.6.24; 5. Read to rise above Mediocrity 1.8.24

THE GOAN NET

Poem: 1. Autumn – The Interim Heaven, 6.10.24; 2. Reader’s Rewind 17.11.84; 3. Reader’s Rewind: The Irony of Tash Moustache or Mooch 5.12.24; 4. The Sunset Point 22.12.24;

ARTICLES IN THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI

Aritcles: 29.12.2020: Indica by Megasthenes; 14.3.22: About The Dimasa Kingdom Assam; 10.12.22: Grand Trunk Road–Uttarapath; 5.10.23: The Ghost Town of Kuldhara Near Jaisalmer;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

POEM: THE THREE LIVES

October 21, 2024poem, POETRY, Uncategorizedbooks, future life, kamlesh tripathi, king size, literature, past life, poems, poetry, present life, shravan charity mission, spiritual, three lives, writingshravancharitymission

THE THREE LIVES

“In our lifetime we are privy to three lives: the past, the Present and the future life. But what is at hand is the present life. If you want to live your life King-Size start appreciating and building on your Present-Life.

To know about your past life,

Look at the experiences of your present life,

To have a feel of your future life,

Feel the experiences of your present life.

Though past and future exist in separation,

They have an unbreakable relation,

Which the naked eye can’t see,

But the trail of karma can feel.

Your present is a reflection of your past,

Your present is a forerunner of your future,

Your present ensures your fortune,

And the noble deeds enacted in the present,

Helps you in building your impression.

It is believed,

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,

Your present is like the bird in your hand,

And your past and future are like the two in the bush.

Pamper the bird in hand,

That’ll take care of the birds in the bush,

By leading a clean life,

By leading a simple life,

By enjoying your present life.

By pondering over the past, the past won’t change,

By worrying about the future, the future won’t relent,

But by toiling in your present life things will progress.

The Past, Present and Future are like the three seasons,

But in real life, the Past and Future are like illusions,

Where the Past is discussed and the Future is dreamt,

And it is only the Present that gets immediate attention.

Your present life is your divine kingdom,

That carves your life’s mission,

Past and Future are only by-products of the Present life,

So focus well on your kingdom.

“Your Present Life is the lynchpin of your existence. So don’t wander in the dark caves of the past and the future and be with your present.”

***

Written by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Like it and Share it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Publications of Kamlesh Tripathi

BOOK TITLE: GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

BOOK TITLE: ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

BOOK TITLE: AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

BOOK TITLE: REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

BOOK TITLE: TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

BOOK TITLE: RHYTHM … IN POEMS

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems are about our day-to-day life. Poems from this book have been published in Shillong Times, Bandra Times, Bhavan’s Journal and Arunachal Times. The book is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

BOOK TITLE: MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

BOOK TITLE: AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(POEMS, SHORT STORIES AND ARTICLES OF KAMLESH TRIPATHI PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES)

BHAVANS JOURNAL

THE SHILLONG TIMES

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

THE ARUNACHAL TIMES

Poem: 1. Hope—In The Arc of Twilight, 13.8.23; 2.Poem: Spring 3.3.24; 3.Poem: The Morning Walk 10.3.24;

BANDRA TIMES, MUMBAI

Articles & Poems: 1. Poem: SPRING, 1.4.23; 2. Poem: Mother, 1.6.23; 3. Poem: Rain Rain, 1.8.23; 4. A Lesson From Dalai Lama, 1.6.24; 5. Read to rise above Mediocrity 1.8.24

THE GOAN

1. Poem: Autumn – The Interim Heaven, 6.10.24

ARTICLES IN THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI

29.12.2020: Indica by Megasthenes; 14.3.22: About The Dimasa Kingdom Assam; 10.12.22: Grand Trunk Road–Uttarapath; 5.10.23: The Ghost Town of Kuldhara Near Jaisalmer;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

TAGORE AND KIPLING

October 7, 2024article, author profile, autobiography, Uncategorizedanglo indian, books, calcutta, caucasian, gitanjali, jungle book, kamlesh tripathi, literature, nobel prize, poem, poetry, rabindra nath tagore, rudyard kipling, shravan charity mission, writingshravancharitymission

Rabindranath Tagore

Rudyard Kipling

Rabindranath Tagore and Rudyard Kipling never met each other but their admirers often hailed them together in the newsstand. Both are contemporary Indians. Tagore (1861-1941) and Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). Tagore is considered the father of modern Indian literature. Like Tagore, Kipling too is an Indian, but of Caucasian stock, whose life ran parallel with that of Tagore. While Kipling was among the Anglo-Indian population who administered the British Empire in India, Tagore was a native Indian who resented the colonial presence. He wasn’t overtly political in his activities, but he wasn’t afraid to expose his feelings, either.

Kipling of ‘The Jungle Book’ fame wrote many short stories and poems focusing on the Indian subcontinent which inevitably have a similar feel to Tagore. It would be fair to say that both writers shared a similar gift for their tireless work and both were awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature; Kipling in 1907 and Tagore in 1913. Tagore was a polymath and an all-round creative talent. He became a celebrity in the West during the second half of his lifetime. In 1878 Tagore moved to England intending to obtain a degree but he was ill-suited to formal education and returned to India in 1880, having failed in his academic ambitions.

Kipling was sometimes seen as a racist and had a particular dislike for Bengalis, of which Tagore was one. As a result, there was no love lost between the two literary giants. Tagore had interactions with other European writers, but he ignored Kipling as if he were a pariah. Kipling would not acknowledge Tagore’s work as having any literary worth, because his prejudice was so strong. He insinuated that Tagore was a pretentious pseudo-intellectual, incapable of writing anything of value. Kipling’s view was typically imperialist due to his upbringing. He had been conditioned to believe that “good” Indians were those who knew their place as servants to the ruling elite. His racism towards Tagore was intensified by his resentment that a native Indian had achieved the same literary stature as himself. Kipling needed to feel superior to mask his insecurities, so Tagore’s success presented a psychological impasse.

Both writers offered an overlap in literary approach and content, as if they were mirrors reflecting the same influences, but with a slightly different perspective. In many ways, Tagore appeared wiser than Kipling, for he was drawn to writing his poetry from an early age and was far more open-minded and accommodating of contrasting cultural influences. Kipling deployed writing as a form of escapism, to hide and express his emotions, having suffered a rather unfortunate childhood as described in his short story ‘Baa Baa, Black Sheep’. Tagore intellectualised the human condition and essentially put himself within the characters so that they were imbued with empathy and sympathy. This was because of his vast ancestral estates where he would travel to collect rents and interact with the tenants. This exposed him to traditional storytelling and songs, as well as philosophical and religious ideas. Tagore wrote while travelling, for example, while he was in Ghazipur—U.P., he wrote most of the poems published in his book Manasi. Kipling could not do this so his characters are more stereotyped and lack the complexity and diverseness observed in real people.

Tagore the ‘Bard of Bengal’, and Kipling the ‘Bard of the Empire’, were contemporary literature giants. They were poles apart in thoughts and ideals, viewing society and the Empire from opposite ends of the spectrum. Kipling was strongly nationalistic, while Tagore was a humanist and against the idea of nationalism and the British Empire, though, ironically, Tagore’s poems are today national anthems of two nations, India and Bangladesh. While Kipling was from an educated middle-class family, they were not moneyed, and gaining financial security was important for them. Kipling’s father Lockwood’s decision to come to India as a teacher in the JJ School of Arts was driven by financial need. Tagore on the other hand was born wealthy, in a family of enormous influence and privilege in Calcutta. Despite his privileged background, he had a strong empathy for fellow human beings, which is largely why he was able to write stories and poems with humility and connection.

Tagore’s stories are typically a hybrid between fairy-tale ghost effects and fables. They convey the traditional Indian belief system. Many are short in length and are over-descriptive so it won’t be possible to condense them further and some do not have a conclusive ending.

In the year 1913, Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature as a result he remains one of the most important voices of Bengali culture. On the other hand, Kipling was the first English-language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, and at 41, its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and several times for a knighthood, but he declined both. It is not possible to list the extensive work of these two writers in this short piece, but it appears writers of the following generation drew inspiration from them. For example, one can sense a fleeting similarity between Satyajit Ray’s short story ‘Anath Babu’s Terror’ and Tagore’s ‘The Hungry Stones’; and Kipling’s poem ‘Mandalay’, can, as if, mesh with the pages of George Orwell’s book ‘Burmese Days’. Not surprising, to see the connection in literature.

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Written by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Publications of Kamlesh Tripathi

BOOK TITLE: GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

BOOK TITLE: ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

BOOK TITLE: AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

BOOK TITLE: REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

BOOK TITLE: TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

BOOK TITLE: RHYTHM … IN POEMS

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems are about our day-to-day life. Poems from this book have been published in Shillong Times, Bandra Times, Bhavan’s Journal and Arunachal Times. The book is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

BOOK TITLE: MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

BOOK TITLE: AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(POEMS AND ARTICLES OF KAMLESH TRIPATHI PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES)

BHAVANS JOURNAL

THE SHILLONG TIMES

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

THE ARUNACHAL TIMES

Poem: 1. Hope—In The Arc of Twilight, 13.8.23; 2.Poem: Spring 3.3.24; 3.Poem: The Morning Walk 10.3.24;

BANDRA TIMES, MUMBAI

Articles & Poems: 1. Poem: SPRING, 1.4.23; 2. Poem: Mother, 1.6.23; 3. Poem: Rain Rain, 1.8.23; 4. A Lesson From Dalai Lama, 1.6.24; 5. Read to rise above Mediocrity 1.8.24

THE GOAN

Poem 1: Autumn – The Interim Heaven, 6.10.24

ARTICLES IN THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI

29.12.2020: Indica by Megasthenes; 14.3.22: About The Dimasa Kingdom Assam; 10.12.22: Grand Trunk Road–Uttarapath; 5.10.23: The Ghost Town of Kuldhara Near Jaisalmer;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

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Tag Archives: literature

Book Review: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Book Review: The Roads of Destiny … by O Henry

BOOK REVIEW: THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Literature: Rejected Then Revered–The Literary Life and Afterlife of American Author Herman Melville

HUXLEY’S TAKE ON TRANSLATED WORKS, BHAVAN’S JOURNAL

INDIA AFLOAT LIKE THE SHIP OF THESEUS

READER’S REWIND: CANCER WARNING LABELS ON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

AUTHOR ALDOUS HUXLEY’S TAKE ON TRANSLATED WORKS

POEM: THE THREE LIVES

TAGORE AND KIPLING