Category: Literature

Let me state at the very beginning that for me literature and arts are intrinsically tied up with politics. There is no literature existing in a vacuum. Literature occupies a public space that very few of the current crops of writers seem to acknowledge. More so with the new crop of the expatriate Indian writers…

(V. Isvarmurti (Vadamalai Media P.Ltd., Pichanur, Coimbatore 641 105. – 2004) Page 310 Rs. 200) Readers exposed to the political pulpit of Tamil Nadu in the last century might drop Kavithaigal into the Dravidian slot with electrical ease, once they open the volume and read the epigraph! Tamil : My Askesis Tamil is my god…

The close friendship that existed between Aurobindo and the poet is well brought out. The daughter had watched how much Aurobindo too sought the company of the poet,rather than the poet sought after the company of the great yogi and seer. There was a violent storm and heavy rain and Pondicherry was devastated. The next…

I believe but book selling, in my opinion, is a greater art and science and cultivated good manners! My book reading and book buying habits had grown over the years and changed radically too. Now, I am time conscious and therefore make quick glancing through the new books I see in the bookshops and make…

Macdonell’s history of Sanskrit literature Unknown to Indians the historic facts about Mahabharatha & Ramayana Educated Indians, even the best of their kind, might not be able to tell correctly the historic facts about our great Classics, our Vedas, Epics, Brahmanas,Sutras etc., Our Education is at fault greatly. But more to the point, our traditional…

America a superpower / American literature not supreme! In any standard anthology of English literature or world literature there is no chapter, not even a honourable mention of American literature! Why? A question that should engage Indian writers in English as well as those who write in Indian languages which have ancient literatures and literary…

Poets make news in Britain, Why poets don’t make news in India? He belonged to the early years of Freedom and idealism, when subtlety mattered, reticence was a sign of culture and understated elegance was still a way of life. The more noisy, tabloid variety of celebrity status didn’t become still a new vulgarity! So,…

Historic facts about Mahabharata & Ramayana Educated Indians, even the best of their kind, might not be able to tell correctly the historic facts about our great classics, our Vedas, Epics, Brahmanas, Sutras etc. Our education is at fault greatly. But more to the point, our traditional gurukula education was based on caste and as…