Narayan Days

Celebrating R. K. Narayan, on the occasion of his 100th anniversary is Jhumpa Lahiri* through this article, Narayan Days.


* Read this Jhumpa Lahiri short story in New Yorker magazine from May 2006. An overview of her literature is here. I have enjoyed Lahiri's short stories far more than anything I have read from other Indian-origin authors who reside in the US...only because she did not make a big deal of mixed culturual identities (she writes equally well about both Indian and American personas and a good short story is exactly that - a good story about people!)...or so I thought until I just researched (or to use the right verb, googled) and found articles in the WSJ and Newsweek where Lahiri talks about her hyphenated existence and about the "intense pressure to be at once 'loyal to the old world and fluent in the new.'" Blaah...wonder if the media makes a big deal out of the author's mixed identities across two nations, two cultures, and worst still...the immigrant experience, every time they encounter an author of Indian origin or whether they do so only because Indian authors (Many thanks, Bharati Mukherjee & Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni!!) have made multi-culturism and the immigrant experience their only selling point over the years. Its probably a little of both - a chicken and egg problem of sorts ...


Anyways, back to RK or Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Narayanaswami... who was essentially the first Indian writer in English to become famous outside of India* too. Tagore precedes him but I consider him more a poet than a writer and more of his work was in Bengali than in English. Appropriately, RK Narayan is one of the early chapters in a recent book I read (read only about 60% of it) - Modern South Asian Literature in English by Paul Brians, part of the Series Literature as Windows to World Cultures. (Brians is a Professor of English at Washington State University, Pullman. He also maintains a webpage on Common English errors, has a page on Resources for study of World Civilizations, and The Chernobyl Poems of Lyubov Sirota)

---

* For example, see:
- Tribute from VS Naipual in Time magazine. (wow..he has a good word to say about someone!!)
- Pankaj Mishra discusses his work in the New York Review of Books.
- The life of RK Narayan in California Literary Review
- Obituary in New York Times
- Paul Brian's World Literature in English list has a study guide to RK's The Guide

but here is someone (Shashi Tharoor) who is not a fan!

Other Links:
- Vendor of treats - a tribute to RK Narayan
- A friend remembers RK.
- Another friend reminisces

Amazing Accidental Abundances - 1

The phrase "Amazing Accidental Abundances" is from "The more angles we choose to view it from, the more its amazing accidenal abundance imposes itself." - John Ashbery, in Introduction to The Best American Poetry, 1988. The above sentence was written with poetry in mind but it could be true for anything..and even life itself!

Anyways, here is a compilation of various fascinating things from around the world..

1. See this.. Fascinating! A starkly beautiful overhead image of shadows cast by a caravan of camels trekking across desert sands is the work of photographer George Steinmetz
2. Frozen Cherry Trees -(via)
   

Remembering 9-11

Remembering 9-11 (BBC)
A plethora of events and tv shows and media coverage for the 5th year 'anniversary'... but I do not have the time (right now) to get into details of the various events being coordinated and the view-points & op-ed pieces being voiced leading up to today!

Just one other thing for now - see this picture of a sand replica of the World Trade Center on a beach in Puri, India, attracts well-wishers.

(picture 6 in the series is interesting one too .. of the Shan-e-Dastar march in Amritsar, India, promotes the pride of Sikhs in wearing their traditional turbans.)

---

Some links cut-n-pasted from the above BBC article:

11 SEPTEMBER: FIVE YEARS ON
In pictures: 9/11 memorials

Viewpoints
Leading commentators write about how the world has changed since 9-11

KEY STORIES

US remembers day of terror

In pictures: 9/11 anniversary

'Fiction over fact' in 9/11 show

'Unknown' rescuer recounts 9/11

Clean-up workers' health suffers

'War on terror' loses direction

Children scarred by memories

HAVE YOUR SAY

How has the world changed?

Voices of the affected

Global voices

BACKGROUND

In graphics: How the towers fell

The four hijacks

In statistics: How US changed

Timeline: Al-Qaeda

9/11 report: Key findings

FROM OTHER NEWS SITES

SABC Five years on, Americans mark 9/11 attacks

MSNBC Americans mark 9/11 five years on

Turkish Press US marks fifth anniversary of September 11 with silent tribute

Peoples Daily Online Amid tears and tributes, fears remain

Manila Times Al-Qaeda still haunts US five years since 9/11 attacks

RELATED BBC LINKS

America's Day of Terror

September 11 - BBC History

RELATED INTERNET LINKS

September 11 Digital Archive

9/11 Commission

ABC: The Path To 9/11

---

U.S. marks lives lost and hopeful signs of healing
As loved ones recited the names of the dead at ground zero, America paused to remember a calamitous day.

Revisiting the Families - Getting Past the Pain of 9/11 With Steps, Big and Small

How the world remembers 9/11: an IHT/ZDF multimedia feature

---

Thoughts from Hendrik Hertzberg, Roger Angell and the Economist, as well as a conversation on the subject involving Seymour Hersh, Jon Lee Anderson and Geirge Packer.

---

Transcript of Bush's speech
Bush says safety of U.S. hinges on Iraq
Editorial: President Bush’s Reality

Bush gets a reaming on MSM! nice.. welcome change*! :)

Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on Bush:
Who has left this hole in the ground? We have not forgotten, Mr. President. You have. May this country forgive you

(* Matt Lauer recent going after Bush recently over his admission of the existence of US-run secret prisons and torture was more an exception than the rule in MSM. Signs that MSM and the common layman are both finally getting tired of the Bush administration shenanigans: Read the comments in this link to an op-ed piece on the most-recent* admission & justification of these secret prisons as a "vital tool" in the war against terrorists (* The Bush administration has previously defended, justified, rejected and "refused to comment"on this issue.)

---

Meanwhile, what do the politicians start after yesterdays canned rhetoric (with a focus on Iraq and not 9-11!!) and public posturing...

Bitter partisan election-year squabbles engulfed Capitol Hill on Tuesday sparked by President Bush's 9/11 speech Monday night. Democrats charged that the president was playing politics with the memories of 9/11, and Republicans questioned whether Democrats are more interested in protecting terrorists than the country.

oh well... expected behavior some would argue.. for eg., read this excerpt from an interesting article from earlier this week, titled: Politics, the Media and 9/11):

Surveying the political landscape, veteran prognosticator Charlie Cook recently noted, "Unless something very dramatic happens" in the coming weeks, Democrats will reclaim control of the House of Representatives this November as part of an electoral "rout." It's that caveat about something "dramatic" that has Democrats worrying--not because they necessarily fear a terrorist attack on American soil but because they fear another signature terror scare from the Bush Administration.

---

Also read this DAILYKOS post today..Bush's politicizing of 9/11

The most succinct proof of Bush's politicization of his 9-11 speech, from Boston Globe's DC bureau chief:

It was a political speech. There wasn't a direct attack on his political foes. But there was a dwelling on Iraq. It's interesting, you know, he has not spoken about Iraq on a 9/11 anniversary, except in election years, 2004 and now. Last year, by the way, he just did a moment of silence on 9/11.

Update: More from Froomkin:

What's also telling, as usual, is what Bush didn't say yesterday, and doesn't say, period.
He doesn't say we won't allow ourselves to be terrorized, and we won't be afraid. (That would run counter to the central Republican game plan for the mid-term election.) He doesn't say that in our zeal to fight the terrorists, we won't give up the qualities that make America great. He acknowledges no mistakes, he calls for no sacrifice, he refuses to reach out to those who disagree with him.

They want to be afraid. They need to be afraid. Otherwise, they wouldn't need Papa Bush to keep them safe and warm. Otherwise, they might have to come to terms with the failures of conservative ideology.

---

I saw signs of this kind of i'm-more-patriotic-than-you games to come up soon leading up to the Nov elections when the Democratic party expressed outrage over ABC-TV's "The Path to 9/11" movie (ABC altered the docudrama under pressure)... and of course kooky Rummy-speak earlier this month* where he was back to spewing his usual nonsense about how unpatriotic it is to criticize Bush and his policies..

Meanwhile, if polls are to be believed, strangely more people blame Bush admin for 9-11 and also Keith Olbermann surges past Paula Zahn in the ratings. Nice.. given the spunk he showed to criticize Bush last night.. (see earlier email below)!

-----
If you missed this Rummy-speak earlier this month..

* In a speech to the American Legion...where he said stuff like - 'America faces an undifferentiated fascist menace. Bush's critics are appeasers who don't understand the lessons of history who blame America first and hate freedom' and also craptalk of 'success of terrorist groups in "manipulating the media" to influence Westerners.'

---

I must have missed this story some years back.. did not realize that there was some amateur footage of the first plane hitting the towers too...

Must have missed this in the plethora of information about 9-11 ...was/am so jaded with all the coverage of that day that I do not want to see any of the various movies and documentaries on 9-11 that have come out in the past year (especially the last 2-3 months leading up to the 5th anniversary). In fact, I have not even bothered to read what the brouhaha over the 9-11 Commission findings was... though I probably should read at least the Executive Summary of the Final Report.

---

However, because of all the many many many many many many A+ 4/5 star raving reviews , I want to someday see the Brit-made movie, United 93 by Paul Greengrass...

I was reminded of the movie as I read this gloating review by Jai Arjun Singh... (Jai Arjun also refers to a fine review by Falstaff.) I usually enjoy Jai Arjun's various movie & book reviews - so, when he praises the movie, I think it may be good. In his review, he points out that Ebert says that the movie’s success stems from its deliberate refusal to see The Big Picture. Hmm... I usually have been a proponent of seeing the big picture but from an emotional visceral movie-going experience standpoint, maybe getting involved in the story of those on the plane is critical - forgeting and putting aside the big picture for some time!

---

And last but not least, while we remember the 2973 victims of 9-11, let us not forget that the count of American soldiers dead in the Iraq misadventure Bush has led the country using the pretext of 'revenge' for that day is eeriely around the same # today...

Total Fatalities: 2984
Operation Iraqi Freedom: 2,654
Operation Enduring Freedom: 330
(Updated September 11, 2006)

And not to forget those dead soldiers from other countries who have died in these two wars. And yes.. you know I cannot finish the mail without mentioning the 50,000 odd people dead in Iraq due to American bombings.. and an unknown high # in Afghanistan too...(most innocent civilians - NOT collateral damage - how I hate that term!!!) .. try reading out all the names of these people in a ceremony!!

And so, while the people of the US remind us that we should "never forget" 9-11 (agreed!), I also ask people (through the right column at my blog, which has various links ) to Always (also) Remember!

Faces of the Fallen - Iraq / Iraq Coalition Casualties / Iraq War Casualties / Iraq Body Counts / Casualties in Afghanistan & Iraq

---

P.S.

1. And what better day to 'celebrate' the 5th anniversary of 9-11 than shoot doves with Republicans?

2. Or maybe you buy into the conspiracy theory that there were no planes!! (haha.. have heard a few different conspiracy theories around 9-11 but this one takes the cake... you saw it but it didn't happen ;))

3. Objectivity is perhaps in the eye of the beholder, some would argue.. anyways, what its worth here is something to read and ponder or dismiss as a conspiracy theory.

9/11: FIVE YEARS LATER, A TIME FOR TRUTH
An objective examination of increasingly popular Sept. 11 conspiracy theories

---

Great blog - I

In this new series, I am going to highlight a few good blogs that I occasionally read...other than Amit Varma's India Uncut, which I catch up on almost daily.

Today, I bring to you..Jai Arjun Singh's great blog Jabberwock.

Jai Arjun is from Delhi and, unlike yours truly, writes a blog that lots of people read. The title, Jabberwock, is based on a poem from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll. Just learned that over the years, Jabberwocky has also taken on some other meanings.

I am a great fan of Jai Arjun's reviews, be it of movies or books. For example, only Jai Arjun can come up with something as universal and profound as:

'We feel most self-important in our sadder moments, but step on the outside just briefly and one sees that, viewed from a wider perspective, there’s always something intrinsically funny about the situation.'

in reviewing a movie like Munnabhai MBBS.

I saw the recent Hindi movie, Omkara - based on Othello after reading Jai Arjun's raving review (others have also reviewed it very favorably too) and I was glad I saw it..

And here is a fine example of a review of a book (Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra, whom, being a journalist, Jai Arjun actually got the opportunity to interview!)) that I sadly will probably never read despite all the hype* around the book... (I read a lot but do not have the patience for 1200 page tomes!).

* Earlier this year, I had written this in my compilation posts on Indian subcontinent literature:

The book to look forward to apparently in 2006 is Vikram Chandra's (of Love and Longing in Bombay fame) big (1200 pages - so very big, at least page-wise) epic book Sacred Games. First there was lots of press about the huge advance that Vikram Chandra got for the book, and in January the publicity machine in India was abuzz with interviews and profiles in what seems like every paper. For example, see interviews and profiles in:
The Hindu / The Indian Express / DNA / plus an interview /Economic Times /Mid-Day

And this article listed the book as one of the 36 reasons to wake up to 2006 !!! Wow..now thats hype!! :)

There is a whole lot more of great stuff at his blog... bookmark it and then go read it!

lila azam zanganeh

My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes by Lila Azam Zanganeh

http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/lila_azam_zanganeh

http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/iran/zanganla.htm

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200604/20060414.html

Lila Azam Zanganeh discusses Giorgio Fabre's new book about the relations between Hitler and Mussolini

Lila Azam Zanganeh, in the NYT (Nov. 7, 2004)

- 7 / 22 / 06

War and Peace

or..as Tolstay almost said..."War..what is it good for?" :)

1) Scorecard for the War on Terror - via BoingBoing

With President Bush today conceding that the CIA ran secret prisons overseas, news that 14 key figures will be transferred from CIA custody to Guantanamo Bay, and revised guidelines on detainee torture, now seems a good time to review security expert Bruce Schneier's post, Scorecard from the War on Terror, who writes-

This is absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in how the U.S. is prosecuting terrorism. Put aside the rhetoric and the posturing; this is what is actually happening.

2) Slaughter in the Monastery by Jasmina Tesanovic

3) Arundhati Roy on Peacebuilding - via

The Dropping Knowledge meeting in Germany will be attended by Arundhati Roy, who asks herself what form of resistance is effective and acceptable? The film, available here, is one of many that feed into The Dialog Platform, which is a fascinating look into the management of complex problems, information visualisation, semantic analysis and knowledge harvesting.

(The wooden table at which participants will sit at is an impressive piece of architecture, while the architectonics of the initiative itself is mind-boggling.)


I heard about the Dropping Knowledge Initiative, on Current TV earlier this week. Sounded like something I'd love to be attending...

See also: Dropping knowledge = wisdom of the crowds?

dropping knowledge is a global initiative to turn apathy into activity. By hosting an open conversation on the most pressing issues of our times, we will foster a worldwide exchange of viewpoints, ideas and people-powered solutions. However knowledge is defined, by dropping it freely to others, we all gain wisdom

And the Private Sector Development Blog entry reports on what is supposed to be ..

a global conversation on pressing global issues. The questions are ‘ donated’ and voted on by common laymen from around the world, and answered by ‘visionaries’ who have also been nominated. If interested, go ahead, submit a question today! All the responses will be recorded, translated and made available online. The hope is to challenge conventional thinking and inspire new ideas; and that by “dropping knowledge” all will gain “wisdom.” Will be interesting to see if this works out - at least the site is an neat start. For more see their blog, films, commercials, and ads.

Time travel

10 years ago, I would be listening to classical music all the time. These days it is jazz (and occasionally blues) .. listening to it incessantly on the internet for the most part - my favorite shows being Jazz with Mell Hill on BBC Radio and WWOZ.org straight from New Orleans.

But driving back from running some errands today, I was taken back to those times remembering a past joy.. (for listening to classical music has now become a past fad, the possesion of 100+ CDs from those days notwithstanding!) ... when I heard two great performances today on WGBH.org public radio

1) Ravel: Tzigane played by Dmitri Torchinsky on violin and Daniel del Pino on piano.

2) Paganini's 'Introduction, theme & variations on Paisiello's "Nel cor più"' played by Romanian violinist Eugen at the Newport Music Festival, which took place this year from July 7–23.