Bharathipura - U R Ananthamurthy

 I heard and read lot about U R Ananthamurthy but only after his  death I bought two of his books. Between Bharathipura and Samskara  I decided to read Bharathipura first just because its bigger in size.  I started reading this book when I was doing volunteering work for SEA games and finished it in two days.

First, the story looked familiar for me, may be because I have seen some movies or read some stories like this before. But the ending was something I never expected. Bharathipura is famous for its deity Manjunatha. Hinduism's rules and rituals are in place. Everyday life of the residence here revolves around the deity. Everything is decided by the temple and the deity.

An young landlord Jagannatha who returns after having his studies in England wants to bring revolution by taking lower caste people into Manjunatha temple. He believes God must be challenged and over thrown first before taking steps to make everyone equal. "I must take the Holeyaru into the temple. I must change the tradition of centuries with that one step. I must break Manjunatha. In the one new step the Holeyaru take, all of us will die and be born anew." His main concern is the lower caste and dark skinned Holeyaru people.They were never allowed to enter into the temple and they have their own deity  - Bootharaya who is an agent to Manjunatha .

The Holeyarus do not have any issue with that age old practise , they are used to it - Jagannatha could not understand that - " Beyond Manjunatha, beyond Bhoothraya, beyond the landlord, the merchant, the ascetic, they have the power to live in a secret inner world that no one else can enter; perhaps they're not even aware that they do. Their world has its own shrewd structures."

This book explores the social and political tensions during 70's  along with personal relationships - both social and  sexual. One can wonder where is the revolution takes place is it in Jagannatha's head or outside? "This is all I have to say, Jagannatha. Do you really love the Holeyaru? If you love them unconditionally, you'll be one with bird, beast and chandala and become an ascetic. There'll be no question of any conflict whatsoever; no need for a revolution". The contradicting expectations of Jaganantha about his personal life and others are the highlight of this story. Though he accepts his girlfriend's decision to sleep with his friend but he could not accept the anonymous letter which states that his mother slept with someone other than his father.  He tries to reason the possibility of his mother sleeping with someone and could not take it further.  Though he was shaken but rises up and carry on his work.

This story is allegory of Indian society which is ready to open up but hold back by faith and believes. The author being Brahmin, knew the role of caste played in their life. One cannot forget Chikki, Sripati Rao,Raghava Puranik, Pilla  and Nagamani. Many of the scenes in this story will remain in our memory for long time - when Holeyaru touches Saligrama - the holy stone and when Ganesha uprooted the statue from the temple and throw into the river etc..

A must read Indian classic.

Koozhankarkal Paadukindrana - S.Ramakrishnan ( கூழாங்கற்கள் பாடுகின்றன )

This book is a good introduction for anyone who wants to know about "Haiku" poetries. As usual the author S. Ramakrishnan did a wonderful job in explaining the various aspects of Haiku.

"ஜென் கவிதைகள் இயற்கையைக் கடந்த காலத்தில் வைத்துப் பார்ப்பதில்லை . நாம் ஒரு மலையை ,அருவியைச் சந்திக்கும்போது இந்தக் கணம் என்ற மட்டுமே நம்மோடு இருக்கிறது . அருவிக்குக் கடந்த காலம் நிகழ்காலம் எதிர்காலம் யாவும் இக்கனமாகவே வெளிப்படுகிறது .அதைத்தான் ஜென் கவிதைகள் தன் கவிதைக் காலமாக முன்வைக்கின்றன ."

The author introduces and explains the aspects of the following Haiku writers :

1. Basho
2. Ryokan
3. Issa
4. Li Bai
5. Ikkyu

The author beautifully highlights how different poets use frog,moon,thief,butterfly and winter season as a metaphor in Haiku poems. The interesting aspect of this book is the way the author compares those famous Haiku poems with our own poets like Devathachan and Premil.

Personally I came to know about Haiku poems only in 2007, previously I heard about it but I did not know much about it. I started reading Basho some years back but I did not understand the deeper meanings of many of the poems so I registered in a haiku forum where people published their haiku poems and discussed about the master poets poems. I learnt a bit from the forum.  I believe understanding these master's poem's will teach to you to appreciate nature and life as a whole.

 This book is only 79 pages, a good introduction to these lovely poetry form.

Bel Canto - Ann Patchett

Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame.

It's easier to love a woman when you can't understand a word she's saying

One of the best novel I read in recent times simply because this story taught me many things. This story is based on the real incident happened in Lima,Peru. A guerilla group take high level executives and vice president as hostages, what happens after is the story of this novel.

It makes you wonder. All the brilliant things we might have done with our lives if only we suspected we knew how.

The story starts with terrorists entering the ambassador's house but everything gone wrong as the target of their operation the president did not attend the party. They do not have any other choice except keep the remaining as hostages. Among the hostages were an Opera singer Roxane Cox, a pianist and a translator. The translator is a unique character, he is a communication point(translates English to Spanish, Spanish to English, Spanish to Russian, Russian to English ...) for all the people, anything needs to be done should go through him .He too very strong and understanding and helps everyone including terrorists.

It was never the right time or it was always the right time, depending on how you looked at it.

The whole group was initially stunned by the voice of Cox and slowly they started to wait for her to sing everyday, even the terrorists like her voice. Most of the males in the group were attracted towards her. I laughed loud whenever the Russian guy tried to propose to Cox, during those times one cannot remain silent about the situations of  Gen.Hilarious.

If someone loves you for what you can do then it’s flattering, but why do they love you? If someone loves you for who you are then they have to know you, which means you have to know them. 

Each character was fully developed and very interesting. I specially loved translator Gen and Carmen, one of the terrorist girl. Their romance was very interesting and the way the communicate and  understand each other is something i enjoyed reading. And I will not forget it easily too. And there is another romance between Gen's master Hosokawa and the singer Cox. Both enjoyed their role in music and even started enjoying themselves.

For a man to know what he has when he had it, that is what makes him a fortunate man.

We can learn that "bad guys" are not really bad and the good guys are not as good. In fact by the end of the story the roles are reversed. I formed a strong relationship with most of the characters , by the end of the book I felt really sad for the 'lovely' terrorists. The author did not talk anything about Peru and situation during the hostage time, I don't know why she left it out. It would have created stronger sense of emotion towards the captors, may be its good that the author left it out.

If what a person wants is his life, he tends to be quiet about wanting anything else. Once the life begins to seem secure, one feels the freedom to complain.

I stopped reading the book after 60+ pages felt bit boring , did not touch the book for next 5 days. Then one day took it and started reading without a break, good I did that. It was a roller-coaster ride of everything, though I guessed the ending and expected it that way but not the relationship between Gen and Cox. The ending did bring tears to my eyes. The community that these group of people created was uniquely bonded , no one wants to break it even the Red Cross mediator, who really enjoyed staying with them. I too did not want to break that.

The writing is superb ,sometimes lyrical and it will make a good movie. The story says all humans are nice if given chance.

Wonderful read.