Book Review Tolstoy: A Russian Life Pages 544, 2010 Profile Books, London, RM 106, Kuala Lampur A book that could change your life! Yes, Leo Tolstoy, usually called by his Russian name, Lev Tolstoy (1828-1910), is perhaps the greatest Russian ever born and lived, he came to be recognised as greater than the Tsar kings,…
Category: Literature
Celebrating Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary
It is just a dreary routine for a dreary routine government! For Indians to understand Tagore’ contribution to India, they have to read Indian history. In particular, Indians should read the British rule, the rule of Lord Curzon, who appointed as Viceroy in 1899, Curzon and his old Estonian friends reached India with a mission…
Literature and culture
Elusive Terrain: culture and literary memory By Meenakshi Mukherjee, 200 pages, OUP, 2008 Now and then, it is nice to read a book by specialist on topics like literature and culture. Meenakshi Mukherjee is a veteran academic specialising in contemporary Indian literature. Both in the Indian languages and that is more important than just talking…
Autobiographies & Biographies
Autobiographies are often highly subjective and therefore only partially true in many respects.While biographies are likely to be more reliable and might give a full account of one’s life. We seem to live at a time when there is an unprecedented change in our lives.Globally it is so.Globalisation is now almost a cliche. Our life…
Poets and philosophers : Their lives and their troubles!
Poets and philosophers! When you think of them, what thoughts immediately spring to mind? They seem to give much life and light to society.Much of our sense of culture and pure aesthetic pleasures, it m is poets and writers seem to be capable of providing.A society without some intellectual strength cant be a society and…
Reading and appreciating poetry
“”When will that shore appear from which at last we see..How all this came to pass and for what reason?” Reading poetry has been my pastime for long.All my life! Now it has become a passion for me and now it has become a serious pursuit.My tastes and temperament had shaped and changed me to…
A study of Indian character needed
Indian character, the Indian mindset have haunted and disturbed me for long. Unless we study and understand how the Indian character had evolved through the ages, how our character is shaped by our long history of oppression and suppression, we can’t understand ourselves fully. We can’t in turn understand the world outside also fully! We…
Dravidian era: a great illusion?
The coming of the Dravidian politics is seen by many uncritical elements as a great blessing. I consider the opposite is true! The illusion of Tamil supremacy stands disproved!