http://indianwriting.blogsome.com "That was the beginning of the century; this is its end. I have been thinking not only of the people who lived there once, but also of the generations of dogs accompanying them in their everyday bustle, and one night— I don't know where it came from— in a predawn sleep, that funny and tender phrase composed itself: a road-side dog." - Czeslaw Milosz, Borderlines. Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:10:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en He did not think it was right, as a human being, that a harsh mechanical sound produced by the pressing of a lifeless plastic button should result in the arrival at his desk of another flesh-and-blood human being, huffing and puffing. Vinayak Dattatreya’s view of life, quoted in Trisha Gupta’s review ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/10/09/dattatreya-ke-dukh/ Reading that Amitav Ghosh’s new novel Sea of Poppies is on this year’s Man Booker shortlist, my thoughts went back to one summer in Bangalore many years ago, when I was teaching one of Ghosh’s prose pieces to a class of teenage schoolboys. Titled The Imam and the Indian, it ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/10/05/waiting-for-the-story/ “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” — Mohandas K. Gandhi http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/10/02/gandhi-jayanti/ Dear Santosh That was your name, wasn’t it? It was about the only thing I could be sure of. I’m not even sure how old you were - one report said 9, another said 11, another said you were 13 years old. Were you Santosh Kumar, or Santosh Mahto? The reports ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/10/02/letter-to-a-boy-named-santosh/ Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan, founders of LAFTI, have been honoured with this year’s Right Livelihood Award for their lifelong work with Dalit labourers and farmers. They have also received other awards and recognition for their work. From their website, in Krishnammal’s words: My only prayer was to study, and equip myself ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/10/02/right-livelihood/ In response to the Berlin International Literature Festival’s appeal for a worldwide reading of Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry on October 5, 2008 Gallerie-PEN India-Jnanapravaha come together to commemorate the life and work of the world-renowned Palestinian poet with an evening of readings. Readings of Mahmoud Darwish’s poems by Gieve Patel, Sampurna Chattarji, Prabodh Parikh, Yuki Ellias, Anand ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/10/01/tribute-to-mahmoud-darwish/ Saturday, October 11, 2008, 6.30 pm, Prithvi House, 1st Floor, Opposite Prithvi Theatre, Janki Kutir, Juhu. A reading-cum-discussion centred around a recently-published volume of two plays The Last Train and If Wishes Were Horses by ANJU MAKHIJA The reading by actors Kanika Dang, Raj Kanojia and Ashok Banthia will be followed by a discussion on ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/10/01/pen-at-prithvi/ and liking it very much. http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/30/currently-reading-3/ Email from PEN All-India: Launch of MISTER BEHRAM AND OTHER PLAYS by GIEVE PATEL 10 October 2008 (Friday) 7 pm Crossword Bookstore, Kemp’s Corner The volume Mister Behram and Other Plays, published by Seagull Books, Kolkata, brings together all his three plays, and also includes extensive interviews with Patel. On the occasion of the launch of ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/30/628/ THE FURTHER SHORE A poetry reading on the occasion of an exhibition of paintings by Jehangir Sabavala Poets: Mustansir Dalvi, Ranjit Hoskote, Jerry Pinto, Rohinton Daruwala, Arundhathi Subramaniam Date: Wednesday, 8 October 2008 Time: 7 pm Venue: Sakshi Gallery, Tanna House, 11A Nathalal Parekh Marg, Colaba, Mumbai (email from PEN India) http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/29/poetry-reading/ Husain is the only artist in the country who has brought the world to us. That’s why I call him the hero of the art world. He’s like a godfather. But he had so much strength he could have done much more than he has in the visual arts. He’s ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/24/husain/ (In the Indian Express today) http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/21/in-the-country-of-deceit/ I was first attracted by the lovely cover and then the excellent translation of Uday Prakash’s brilliant novel. http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/21/currently-reading-2/ I liked it very much. It’s a Mumbai film - does the city so well, including the north-south commute, the cooperative society, the Malabar Hill in-laws. Also the greed, obsessiveness, and desperation. The tapping on the car window at traffic signals. The lifetime it can take to move from a 1-BHK to ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/20/hulla/ From this superb collection edited by Jeet Thayil for Penguin India, this poem by Gopal Honnalgere (1942-2003): (I can’t seem to get the text formatting quite right, sorry) The Donkeys maybe it’s a legend I don’t remember his name a tibetan poet sat and wrote poems poems poems all his life when he was eighty nine and with ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/20/60-indian-poets/ Amitav Ghosh’s novel is on the Man Booker shortlist. More here. http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/10/a-big-rumbustious-sort-of-book/ Outlook describes the work of the 202 Engineer regiment, one of the Army units engaged in rescue and relief work in Madhepura in north Bihar: Against impossible odds, the sappers worked round the clock, operating from a camp on the road between Saharsa town and Madhepura’s district headquarters, now inundated with ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/07/rescue-work-in-bihar/ But read this. This and this and this. Reliefweb page including appeals here. Here is a map of the Bihar flood zones. Some initiatives to help: Here and here and here. Save the Children has an appeal here. Oxfam page here. Here is a blog on Bihar Flood Relief 2008. Another one ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/09/03/nobody-reads-new-from-bihar/ So many things wrong with this movie. Where to begin? All those brows furrowed in righteous indignation. All that name-dropping of “issues”, including a gratuitous mention of the Mumbai train blasts of 11 July 2006. And halfway into the story Bobby Deol decides to become a dude. He races out ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/08/30/chamku/ The devastating floods in Bihar have affected millions of people. Goonj sends out an appeal to help the affected with material, logistical or financial support. More here. http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/08/30/bihar-floods/ Email from Siyahi: Mantles of Myth - Narratives in Indian Textiles 13-15 December 2008 Indian textile style has evolved with the development of civilization and its significance is hallowed by traditions. According to the Rig Veda and the Upanishads, the universe is a continuous fabric with a grid pattern upon which cycles of ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/08/30/narratives-in-indian-textiles/ From an email from Zubaan: The eleventh (and final) lecture in the series Partition: The Long Shadow Partition as a Metaphor of New Politics: The 1940s Realignment of the Dalit Movement in North India Dr Ramnarayan S. Rawat Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre Wednesday 13 August 2008, 6.30 pm Dr. Rawat’s presentation will point to the new ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/08/13/from-my-mailbox/ Salman Rushdie on the writing of Midnight’s Children: Midnight’s Children, a book which repeatedly uses images of land reclamation, because Bombay is a city built upon reclaimed land, was itself an act of such reclamation, my attempt to reclaim my Indian origins and heritage from my eyrie in Kentish Town, and ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/08/13/reclamation/ Tiger on a Tree by Anushka Ravishankar with illustrations by Pulak Biswas. It’s a Tara Books publication. More about Ravishankar’s style here. My son and I are fans. Who knew children’s books were so much fun? http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/08/12/currently-reading/ Toward the end of the Sakuntala, the most famous of the three surviving plays by Kalidasa–the poet usually considered the finest in ancient India–the hero Dushyanta offers this poignant self-analysis: Like someone staring at an elephant who says, “There is no elephant here,” ... http://indianwriting.blogsome.com/2008/08/07/the-clay-sanskrit-library/