tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48965275822921282532024-03-13T10:13:23.879-07:00Vague Women and other confessionsdevapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-11183075511964984782012-06-20T11:59:00.001-07:002012-06-20T11:59:44.326-07:00the one with the mulfi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b>The one with the mulfi
<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
As monsoon lashes against the Kerala coast, and rains creep up
the sub-continent following their usual trail, I decide that I too in my
fashion must address the Indian obsession with the mango. Clichéd it is, of
course; bordering on oral fixation, true; but, well, cultures perhaps owe it to
themselves somewhat to live up to their stereotypes, especially if said
stereotypes were first generated-for and subsequently were seen-through-and-analyzed-as-thus-by
goras. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Ergo, the mango. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Or rather, if we were to go with the flow,
the magical mangoes from Dharamtallah, which played a critical role in pushing
me from one side of the blogosphere (foodporn-viewing) to the other (foodporn-contributing
or whatever). But long before these magical mangoes, came the train journeys to
Howrah, at the end of the summer holidays. So that is where the story really
begins.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Every June, when Mummy would return to
Calcutta from the glorious environs of what is now Jharkhand, she would be
accompanied, alongside a scrawny child (me), by several baskets bursting with fresh
vegetables and fruits, several gunny sacks full of rice grown on my
grandfather’s land, several bags stuffed with local delicacies – I remember a
particularly delicious home-made snack called jhilkut – and several canvas thailas
full of sundry other items that, like the rest, were far superior to any Bengal
produce, sweetened as they were by the quaint properties of the Jharkhand
water-table. I might be exaggerating slightly – but that, more or less, was the
general picture. Co-travellers were no problem. They were won over with
mountains of food that my grandmother would pack as though for a troop of
soldiers going to Siachen, and if I remember correctly, some of them even went
home with a few goody bags of choice vegetables. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
My father, who is somewhat of a posh sort,
would be most annoyed at the spectacle we presented at Howrah. But he would
have no choice but to stuff it all into our creaky fiat premier padmini. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
These
days, when I return from Calcutta, my mother clamouringly packs a massive
quantity of stuff for us. Mostly I put up with it. Believe me, it is far easier
to just go with it than explain otherwise to her. Earlier this month, for
instance, I ended up paying through my nose at the excess baggage counter. But
yes, the <i>five</i> kilos of gobindo bhog
rice she had packed was comforting; it is, after all, supremely expensive in
Delhi. 70 rupees a kilo! (No, no, don’t do the math. Apparently, the excess
baggage does not count; she has even offered to return it to me.) And the
magical himsagar mangoes of Dharamtallah do not even fall into this category:
they cannot be had in Delhi for love or money.
The spouse was not amused. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
With the
last of the above mangoes, I decide, extremely uncharacteristically I’ll have
you know, to do something special. Mango kulfi did seem appropriate, but I was
faced with a couple of problems: I had neither my usual recipe (that had been twice
tried, with mixed results) nor kulfi moulds. The consequences of moving in and
out of cities with random casualness – one part of one’s worldly baggage is
always elsewhere. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
However, my Julie Sahni classic cookbook – <i>Classic Indian Vegetarian Cookery</i> –
suggested that muffin moulds might just as easily be used, a possibility that
appealed for its sheer quirkiness. And Julie Sahni’s recipe, you would have
guessed from all the tautology, was a <i>classic</i>.
So there was no need for condensed milk, evaporated milk, cornflour, milk
powder or even whipping cream. One only needed a litre of regular milk (I
acquired two packets of full-cream from Mother Dairy) and a dash of nutmeg
powder, preferably freshly grated, and some sugar. The mangoes, you would
recall, I already had. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
In the traditional mode, I sliced off the
tops and soaked them in water for half an hour. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWcNUy95STlkxJfNNF2fzrBs3hr6qaOaUMivDEfzKaEYnHhBaUHwf-ZboOc7NyFnr9jRWQqdXyFPkDj3vqIdpskV_cRG42Y8tLARvpmGihTvUbOLt31AlZXAW5qeNE9gbNK8UKgiWc1Q/s1600/2012-06-04+18.50.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWcNUy95STlkxJfNNF2fzrBs3hr6qaOaUMivDEfzKaEYnHhBaUHwf-ZboOc7NyFnr9jRWQqdXyFPkDj3vqIdpskV_cRG42Y8tLARvpmGihTvUbOLt31AlZXAW5qeNE9gbNK8UKgiWc1Q/s320/2012-06-04+18.50.58.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">
According to Sahni, “It is the slow cooking
of the milk that imparts that distinct characteristic rabadi aroma only classic
kulfi has. Also, because the milk mixture is frozen without being churned, the
kulfi develops a special grainy texture not unlike that of Middle Eastern
halwa, something between ice-cream and sherbet.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">
Luckily, electricity in my Council House-ish
kitchen is subsidized, so I could guiltlessly thicken the milk slowly, on my non-traditional
induction cooker. Simmering the litre after it reached boiling point, and
continuously stirring it (well, okay, one is ideally supposed to stir it
constantly – I did my best) I achieved a rather aromatic slightly-coddled
creamy-texture result, sweetened slightly. To that was added the mango puree,
the dash of nutmeg, and subsequently, in clingfilm-lined muffin moulds, it was
frozen inside generous aluminium foil packets. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
It was delicious,
even if I say so myself. The mulfi. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I’m
including the recipe in case you wish to attempt it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b>Aam Kulfi<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
(Adapted from Julie Sahni’s <i>Classic Indian Vegetarian Cookery</i>
(1999). London: Grub Street, 2003. P.428)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
1 litre/1 ¾ pints milk</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
4 tablespoons sugar</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Freshly grated nutmeg: one-eighth
of a teaspoon</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
250 ml mango pulp</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
1. Bring the milk to boil over high
heat, stirring constantly to make sure no skin forms (as that shall deter
evaporation). Subsequently, lower the temperature to medium and cook the milk,
gently bubbling and boiling, until it is reduced to 400 ml. Stir often so the
milk does not stick or burn. Add the sugar and cool thoroughly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
2. Fold in the nutmeg and mango
pulp.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
3. Pour into kulfi moulds (or, at a
pinch, muffin tins lined with cling-film and covered with aluminium foil) and
freeze.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
4. Unfreeze and devour.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Notes: As someone with no culinary sense of proportions I did
splash the thickened milk around in my measuring cup once or twice in between
to check if it was thickened enough. Though it’s a bit of a dangerous process,
I would recommend it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
It is
important to keep stirring regularly if not continuously. The last time I’d
attempted it, the milk for the kulfi had got slightly burnt – and though my Russian
gourmet-cook friend, the unfortunate one sampling it, said making it “smoky”
was a good French twist – it is a situation that is not easily rectifiable. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
It
tastes far superior (at least to my untrained palate) to the recipes that use
condensed milk, evaporated milk, cornflour, whipping cream etc.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Finally,
point 4 does not take from Sahni’s book. But works pretty well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8spUglUkbp7IkuL4e5aNp56cnt6CXWZHo6e80nurIt-iA1ooW40I-ddASTHhlTIebd0XumEznOW5IZK-tAPUXb6PKXfU2OEqt8L-ihH35ZkX2OcNE9YdxmS9GBPm7qynyjo72EDaiCWs/s1600/2012-06-05+22.26.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8spUglUkbp7IkuL4e5aNp56cnt6CXWZHo6e80nurIt-iA1ooW40I-ddASTHhlTIebd0XumEznOW5IZK-tAPUXb6PKXfU2OEqt8L-ihH35ZkX2OcNE9YdxmS9GBPm7qynyjo72EDaiCWs/s320/2012-06-05+22.26.21.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<br />
</div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-46507112195284293442012-06-20T11:52:00.001-07:002012-06-20T11:54:23.323-07:00the one with late reminiscences of summer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
Unfortunately, as
one who is <i>still</i> working on a
manuscript that was to have been completed and submitted last year (or was it
the year before?), I cannot really complain about the heat in Delhi. If
anything, it is forcing me to remain indoors, undistracted by the pleasures of
gallivanting here or there and get my ass moving on what is, with ironical aptness,
called “The Heat and Dust Project”. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
The afternoons outside our tiny
flat are filled with the solid quiet intense white-heat that stands like a
handsome asura, the guardian of the Delhi summer; the neighbourhood dogs rush
about busily in the sun with a frenzy that is part sexual. There is a water
booth for them where they mill around at lunchtime, bossing over the thirsty
mynas who wait patiently in queue; and then, suddenly, they vanish. To sleep beneath
the green benches, stretch under limpid shadows by the mini-forests that
intervene our campus. But dusk is long
and lazy and by the time the dogs are roused and heard barking again, the four
neem trees outside our Council Housish block – where the Cornell-red brick
façade has been leached to a dull gentle redwood by the years in extreme
temperatures – the four neem trees that
cast their shadows on our walls go <i>shee
shee shee</i>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9LLkqUC0ppMBAuPcueMGYwmnKVMEq71QHeJT4ltuJwx2YndApr4UB4hAyn9gA-90ebpR3dYZB-oklytLYFLZfBlQ97cJb-oz6aPy6MGFbxNK2f7Onl5Yp-tYbx2dKbYuHrkT0A2oUCs/s1600/2012-06-05+11.37.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9LLkqUC0ppMBAuPcueMGYwmnKVMEq71QHeJT4ltuJwx2YndApr4UB4hAyn9gA-90ebpR3dYZB-oklytLYFLZfBlQ97cJb-oz6aPy6MGFbxNK2f7Onl5Yp-tYbx2dKbYuHrkT0A2oUCs/s320/2012-06-05+11.37.43.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
Sometimes in the late afternoon,
there is a lull when the sky seems to darken. The peacocks call out to each
other. The neem trees sway their branches madly in the wind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
But
mostly one is disappointed – there comes but a brief spell of rain.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
When I was a
girl my mother and aunts would assemble at my grandparents’ country house in
Jharkhand for the summer holidays. In hindsight I know those were probably the
happiest holidays possible for a child, though at the time I used to be extremely
jealous of my quintessentially Bengali friends who, ably carrying the mantle of
Bengal’s famed wanderlust, went on fancy holidays to exotic locations. My Bihari
(now Jharkhandi) parents, au contraire, would pine for the smell of the reddish
lands they had grown up in, the unique green of its landscape, the sweetness of
its water. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
My
days on holiday would begin with homework (in that matter, my mother combined
the worst of Bengali and Bihari strictures) and a glass of fresh cow’s milk. I
hated both with passion. But then, after a while, I would be let off – and then
I would spend the entire day roaming in the sun with my holiday best-friends,
local girls who knew every nook and cranny of the valley behind the house that
led to a large pond and then, further away, to hills. But we were not allowed
to venture that far, to any place <i>really</i>
interesting. So we would walk about
aimlessly, laugh and gossip, collect small ripe mangoes in handkerchiefs, bite
them at the top, and then suck the juice. We would visit neighbours. We would
laze. I would lose all my citifications and relax into bliss.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
After a few days, my usual
impulse of over-reaching would rear its head, and my friends and I would decide
we should stage an entertainment for the benefit of our families and sundry
others – mostly my grandfather’s tribal friends, associates and lackeys – who
might want to drop by. I would usually be the director. My friend Jyoti would
be the chief star. If my youngest aunt’s daughter was visiting too, then there
would most definitely be another rival director. The stage would be the inside red
verandah of the house that led to the yard. The audience would sit in the yard,
the actors would grace the verandah, my grandmother’s best bedsheets would be
the curtains, and my eldest cousin R’s tape recorder would provide filler
music. (The songs from “Phir Teri Kaahaani Yaad Aayi” were the rage one summer
I remember.) The local bank manager’s wife was the guest of honour. There was a
play (my piece de resistance), some Bollywood dancing (Jyoti’s piece de
resistance) and some Rabindra nritya (the rival director’s piece de
resistance).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
And then the summer holidays would
end and we would travel all evening to take the train from Ranchi at night, eat
luchi and potato curry in our compartments, and in the morning, reach Howrah
almost alongside the monsoon. My heart would expand slightly at the sight of
the gracious red buildings of Howrah station, and my father waiting for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/3397/3615069365_d07022d714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://static.flickr.com/3397/3615069365_d07022d714.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
These days I realize what it was that made
summer so special those years. For summer was about my mother and aunts becoming
girls again, at their parents’, a peculiar condition that I cannot explain –
but which I always slip into myself when I visit my Mum. But there was
something about the voice, the step, the telling of sorrows, the discussing of
futures, the unique mix of tensions and joy. It has been long since I have been
able to fashion that long languorous sense of happiness out of my now adult summers.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
The town
remains; the house remains against the backdrop of Maoist realities; May and
June come and go; my grandparents are now gone, though in my mind they remain inextricably
linked to still summer afternoons and my theories of joy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-84852937535160042822012-01-19T20:36:00.000-08:002012-01-19T20:36:57.365-08:00The Dying Art of Prem?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Let the French celebrate their ménage de troi, the Americans, their prom, we Bengalis have always championed our own original contribution to the global vocabulary of love and sex, thank you very much. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">It is the much serenaded: <i>prem</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Amply inspired by the rain and slush filled afternoons of our parts, the particular colours of our smoke-stained greenery, the sounds of our rumbling buses, and the competitive pricing of our cinema-halls-to-make-out-in, prem flourished robustly in Calcutta for decades. As late as 2002, that is, about ten odd years ago, when I joined college towards the middle of a singularly hot August, I quickly found that prem had yet retained all its characteristics as a seventies institution – long smoky hours at the Coffee House, tiny budgets, college fests, much drama, disapproving parents, passion metamorphed into (bad) poetry over endless cups of mud-coloured coffee and sad little egg sandwiches, vague longings at revolution, and, of course, a delicious old-fashioned nerve-wracking sense of waiting. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1pM0C8qS5ucKdhR2O_5eo10VXWGBvROLLw5ugpz9r2fbFHfpBtO7kq3Z_" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1pM0C8qS5ucKdhR2O_5eo10VXWGBvROLLw5ugpz9r2fbFHfpBtO7kq3Z_" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">The hall-of-fame love stories were narrated to us by Promod da if we found him in a good mood (or if one had not budged from the canteen in the last three days, ordering historic amounts of food therein).<span> </span>There was, for one, the millionaire’s daughter R-di who married the commoner P-da – and agitated happily ever after. There was the Naxal leader who adored the Police Commissioner’s daughter, the economist who eloped with the Bangla professor’s son, the internationally famous scholar of postcolonial thought who had exactly fifty-three memorable prems in her three undergrad years. There were several other inspiring tales, and one or two sorrowful stories – of preme-e paagol (in a literal asylum-bound sense) and worse, suicide. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><span> </span>You’ve guessed by now that I have had a fair degree of hands-on experience in said matter.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Therefore, when my editor instructed me to do a piece chronicling the changing nature of romance with a decidedly Calcutta theme, I smugly informed the spouse (the other half of the prem escapades chronicled above) that it would be a cakewalk. I was already a veteran, an insider if you will. In typical spouse-ly manner he threw a few grim terms at me immediately: post-communist society, liberalization and its consequences, decline of institutions as we knew them, rise of consumerism like never before. “Blah blah blah blah blah,” I mimicked, pulling a face. Without pausing, he pointedly suggested that perhaps it might be better if I actually talked to a Few Young People first.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Annoyedly, I picked up the phone and summoned my most available brother (of two) who immediately agreed to be interviewed. “In any case,” he said, “I’ve meaning to come over and see you guys.” I murmured sympathetically. A doctor in making and student leader, he has been involved in a classic ek-phool-do-maali kind of love triangle in the past one year.<span> </span>Every time Doc tells us about it, S and I end up fighting over the radically different solutions that we both insist he follow – but he doesn’t really mind. (Naturally, he doesn’t follow either’s advice, but that is a different matter.) </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Doc arrives in the evening, and armed with a notebook and pen, I accost him immediately. His brother-in-law tries to sneak him some chocolate before the grilling session begins but, like a jailor, I rush him through it. “What are young people thinking of prem these days?” I thunder. He pauses to think. “There is no prem these days to think about,” he finally answers, nibbling his chocolate absently. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">“Come on,” I counter, “you know what I mean. The tradition of prem in Calcutta can’t <i>not</i> be there anymore. It’s as ubiquitous as the Calcutta biriyani. What are you <i>saying</i>?” He nods sagely. “I know <i>exactly</i> what you mean. Coffee House, Lake-er dhaar, dreaming about a future together, screwing up exams, fighting with parents, etc. etc. etc. The whole deal. I know. But it’s just no longer happening. It’s gone out of vogue.” Then, after gravely uncrossing his legs, he comments darkly. “And if you want to know, it’s all because of the girls.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Now, my feminism and Doc’s sensitivity are both family jokes. If anyone else had said something to the effect, they wouldn’t have heard the end of it from me for the next ten years, but Doc is different; if anything, since babyhood he has been a Shakta, a worshipper of only goddesses, and generally he’s very politically correct. He is always winning elections and stuff. So I wait for him to elaborate. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">“The boys are <i>still</i> willing to commit to relationships these days – the girls are absolutely non-committal. <i>Really, </i>not joking!” He warms up to his theme. “For instance, they may spend the whole afternoon and evening hanging out with you at the mall. They’ll hold your hand. Allow you to whisper sweet nothings in their ears. Anyone who sees you will think you’re a couple madly in love. But then you drop her home, and after that you’re not even allowed to <i>call</i> her for the next few days. Apparently, that’s infringement of her space. Then she’s AWOL for days! Even if she agrees to be your girlfriend, there are problems. For one, at any given time, most girls have at least three leading men in their lives. The boyfriend. The best (guy) friend. And another interesting guy who is not-a-friend-and-not-someone-special. It drives one <i>crazy</i>! Believe me – I am always having to counsel my friends on these matters.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">My eyes pop wide. <i>Three!</i> Sheesh! And what happened to the best <i>girl</i> friend? The one the boyfriend was supposed to buy coffee for, the one who played peacemaker during fights? The contemporary of the sakhi. She was very much there when I’d checked last!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">“And before you know it, the best (guy) friend has become the boyfriend, the interesting guy is now the best friend, and the ex is, well, still a facebook friend. He can come back into her life anytime too. It’s a lot of drama.”<span> </span>He shakes his head tiredly. “And you can’t be possessive or anything. Then she’ll throw a major tantrum and say you’re not liberal. But <i>you</i> can’t hang out with your friends that much either, or keep in touch with <i>your</i> ex. You can’t smoke, you can’t drink – the new breed of girls are very anti-smoking, anti-drinking. It’s very hard. The tension of the hochhe-hobe na phase is actually better for guys. It’s a lot of stress, but overall better. I tell you, some of my friends are having nervous breakdowns!” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">S proceeds to pour him a stiff drink while I digest all this silently. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">I think fleetingly of Bridget Jones – hadn’t thought that emotional fuckwittage in Bengal was primarily the preserve of girls. Talk of having it all. The fight for the fundamental right to choose <i>who</i> to love (that generations of feisty women had waged for years) has been fought and won, it seems, and subsequently declared completely irrelevant. As a hopeless romantic, I feel a little cheated.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">“How’s A-?” I ask, changing the subject. A- is a charming young thing, the unwitting phool of the triangle. “Fine,” Doc replies, his face softening instantly, “She said hello to you two. Shall I bring her over next weekend?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">*</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">The following morning, Sam and Roo come over. They are budding filmmakers, students of Jadavpur, around 22 or so. He is an exceptional photographer, she sings the blues. In short, they are very very cool. Confronted with such momentous changes to document and analyze, I am doubly charged up and waylay them as soon as they enter. Notebook in hand, I volunteer, even as they are divesting themselves of various tripods and lenses and other shooting paraphernalia. “Would you say there is a clear before-South City and an after-South City in the terrain of south Calcutta in general and Jadavpur in particular? Has that changed the nature of prem?” (For those who don’t quite know, South City is a humongous gleaming-shining siren of a mall, a veritable temple to the buying-and-spending economy, spawning a particular race of new mutants: the South City mall rats.)<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Sam and Roo are caught unawares by this sudden attack. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">After settling down, and safely stowing away their equipment, Sam ventures, “I think that is more or less true. Though, of course, we can’t possibly know what it was <i>really</i> like in the before-South City days. I mean, I know where people used to hang out and stuff – they still hang out at those places – but I think everyone comes to South City all the time.” Roo runs a hand through her gorgeous hair and says, “If you want to know honestly, I think prem is totally different these days. It’s very casual, very non-committal.” She looks at my expression and says comfortingly, “Don’t be too disappointed but things <i>have</i> changed.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">I say, “But the quest for love is eternal, isn’t it? Don’t people want love anymore? And what about hormones?”<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">They pause to think. Then Sam says, “There is a lot of falling in lust of course. A lot of heat, a lot of interest.” I perk up. “That early phase of bliss is very much there. But after that, there are fights. And people break up immediately. Nobody wants any hassles anymore. Who wants a relationship with so much chaap?” Roo replies, a little sadly, a little grow-uply, “I think our generation is just plain lazy. They don’t want to work at anything other than their careers. One fight after that month of bliss, and bam, they are over. I mean, if you want percentages, only about 10 per cent even <i>believe</i> in prem,” she looks at me earnestly. “Most of them aren’t looking for anything serious, they say.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Sam adds, “Plus, there is the matter of long distance relationships. Even if people have been together for two or even three years, before one of them leaves town, it is understood they will break up.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">“You mean,” I ask, “they don’t even give it a try? They break up even before the viraha sets in?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">“Ya,” Roo confirms, “<i>I</i> don’t approve, but people are quite shallow ish. They need to be surrounded by new friends in the new place; it’s understood they’ll get a new boyfriend or girlfriend close by. Some girls, in fact, look out for a boy with a motorbike or preferably a car in the new city. It’s very convenient.” We burst out laughing. “It’s true though,” Roo smiles. But this is an old joke – only now it was probably advice proffered in all seriousness. Everyone knows how difficult public transport is in Delhi. (And most intellectuals-to-be of Calcutta are now bona fide residents of Delhi as it were.)<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">I’m going to do the unpardonable and say, <i>in our time</i>, most people, while in a relationship, would be more hopeful of a happy ending; not necessarily marriage because I’ll have you know, there were radicals among us too, not even of an ending-ending, but of happiness together. Even when they went off to different cities, when they went abroad. If it didn’t work out, it didn’t. But nobody was cynical enough to end it simply because they already knew that unless the significant other was sitting on their head or hanging out of their pockets, the relationship would be over. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Evening falls outside the verandah, the birds chirp noisily and it begins to softly rain. We’ve chatted all day, and now, Sam and Roo begin to leave for home in a flurry of umbrellas. He’ll drop her and then go home. Are they a couple? I wonder aloud. Should I ask? But S twinkles at me, “Don’t bring it to the particular. Let them be.”<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">*</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">In an organized fashion, I list the following general points in my head. To Be Thought About Regarding Prem:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">1) Consumerism. Has it killed the socialist dream? Nobody wants to be poor together anymore. And it is probably easier trying to <i>get</i> rich with no premful complications in one’s head. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">2) The illusion of too much choice, the super-market syndrome. (People should commission some studies on this.) </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">3) Extreme academic pressure. (If 100 per cent is the cut-off in leading colleges, then what can anyone say?)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">4) Women’s lib? (So this is what freedom came to? Not to glorious liberty to love dramatically outside religion, against all rules but to a dwindling nothing – the freedom to dilly and dally, to dhori jol na chhui pani? It’s most unhappy). </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">5) Safety? The great Indian fallback option. At 30, parents will find, through shaadi.com or similar a nice marketable boy or girl, with whom there is much greater security. For the values assigned to individuals at 20 and 30 are markedly different, in the eyes of the word. At 20, the hottest guy in college is the singer, and nobody likes the dork. At 30, the dork lives in NY, has an MBA from ISB, works for some MNC and can effortlessly pay several EMIs at once. The singer has just been thrown out of the 13<sup>th</sup> band he had co-founded and is now thinking of opening a photocopy shop by the roadside. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">*</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">My final two interviewees prefer the phone. It is the less available brother, the one who’s studying engineering in an industrial town outside the city. He is a thinker, this one. Has been bruised in love and now reads a lot of Sartre and Murakami; he has modelled himself somewhat on Ted Mosby of <i>How I Met Your Mother</i>. The other is an extremely opinionated bright young girl, M, who has just completed her masters in literature and is applying abroad. She is always interested, always honest, and sometimes prefers women to men. They are asked to answer briefly to the same set of questions.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium none;"><tbody>
<tr> <td style="border: 1pt solid black; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">QUESTION</div></td> <td style="border-color: black black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">ANSWER BY TED MOSBY</div></td> <td style="border-color: black black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">ANSWER BY M</div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">1) Would you consider us post-prem?</div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Yes. It saddens me, but that is, indeed, the case.</div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Not really. But it’s a different kind of prem. Prem, above all, of the self.</div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">2) Why do you think this is so?</div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Nobody reads anymore. If one doesn’t grow up reading <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>, <i>Love Story</i> or <i>Tungabhadrar Teere</i>, and only watch stupid serials then what will they know of love? We don’t make romantics anymore. </div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Girls are less willing to continue in relationships that do not fulfill <i>all</i> their demands. It’s not that girls don’t want to commit, but they now want a lot more. And men don’t seem to be willing to give more. Not that they can’t, they just don’t want to. So… Plus, there seems to be a lot of choice – nobody wants to be an early bird and choose wrong!</div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">3) Is it ultimately a matter of career first?</div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Often. Most people will leave West Bengal anyway. In interviews people are asked if they are willing to be posted anywhere in the world, anywhere in India – and nobody wants to be tied down. Not boys, not girls. </div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Everybody wants love but it is too luck-dependent. Economic choice, though, is something I can control myself. So, naturally, bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Girls think that if they work hard and play their cards right, there is a huge world out there for them!</div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">4) Any comments.</div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Don’t judge by Calcutta though, or its premier institutions. The deep suburbs are not that cynical – and prem flourishes in colleges there.</div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color black black -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">We see it this way: school and college prem have nothing to do with adult life and adult choices.</div></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">*</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">In spite of that tiny sliver of hope offered by Ted Mosby, I am greatly in the dumps; S suggests a walk. It doesn’t work. So he promises me a chocolate boat at the end of the walk and I agree.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">And while we walk, we see couples, and groups of friends, and couples again. We see old people and young women with children. Shopkeepers and office-returnees. Absorbed in their worlds. There is comfort in watching strangers from afar.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">We then walk down to the metro station, and girls and boys, in twos and fours, laugh and chatter, and their voices are like birds in the sky. And the rain is scattered in the wind, and the puddles by road reflect the passing headlights. And it fills my heart with something like relief. Because it is there – in the air – the essence of the unchanged; of youth, passing. That is enough in its own right; that is plenty. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">We walk down to South City. And S tells me, “Today, let’s just walk around and observe the young people here. Not the ones who are <i>buying</i> but the ones behind the counters.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">And we do. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">On days that one does that, one is blessed by the sight of Sanjay. One sees the Starmark non-fiction guy chatting with the Spencer’s perfume girl, just outside the foodcourt, hands glued to each other’s, oblivious to the world around. They don’t have many breaks but every time they do, they find each other, rushing up and down the four floors. They have long long hours on their feet, but they always lunch together – and take the train to the suburbs together too. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">I have my chocolate boat happily, and go home, and promise not to fight with S for at least a week. I sleep soundly enough. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">I have my answer for now. Like the French proclamation at the coronation of a new monarch, we Bengalis can safely conclude, for now. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><i>The prem is dead. Long live the prem.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteD0w0YiaJtgqDj2i5jfhtJl3KeNcB0aTjwkore7F0nE2H18bcRQoz3NzrY0iFq1w5jmK6XouiKFQRCpFknH3BBHtRMnrqbQWkw0HJbHOUOUQXz9ljMaStw5XPSvwyu0cy81nKeDs64zc/s400/arup+lodh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteD0w0YiaJtgqDj2i5jfhtJl3KeNcB0aTjwkore7F0nE2H18bcRQoz3NzrY0iFq1w5jmK6XouiKFQRCpFknH3BBHtRMnrqbQWkw0HJbHOUOUQXz9ljMaStw5XPSvwyu0cy81nKeDs64zc/s320/arup+lodh.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-19535222663100260652011-07-21T00:45:00.000-07:002011-07-21T00:45:21.451-07:00The Hours: the film, the book , the history<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><i></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><i>Mrs Dalloway</i>, or the story behind the story behind the story:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">When Michael Cunningham – author of <i>The Hours</i>, winner of the Pulitzer – was fifteen, a bookmobile would come into his neighbourhood in Los Angeles. One afternoon, chiefly to impress a crush, he checked out a book that nobody had borrowed before: Virginia Woolf’s <i>Mrs Dalloway</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">In the novel, considered by many to be Woolf’s finest work, it is a delightful June day in London at the end of the Great War, and Mrs Clarissa Dalloway, hostess of some repute and great breeding, wife of a minor politician, prepares for a society party she will throw that evening. Woven around that single strand by way of a plot, appear characters Clarissa has known in the past, and loved – Peter Walsh, a former beau, and Sally Seton, former best friend (one might even suggest, lover). As also, people she has never known, and would not be likely to meet in the highly class conscious English society of the time, the hapless Septimus Warren Smith, discharged soldier, war hero, and patient of shell shock who will, before the party begins, kill himself. Through the curious crisscross of lives and feelings, Woolf tells the history of all humanity – full of light and darkness, and life and deathwish, and sorrow and memory – in the action of a single day. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Fifteen-year-old Cunningham was transfixed by the book. In the nineties, already a writer of eminence if not stardom, he decided to rework <i>Mrs Dalloway</i> into a modern-day retelling; indeed, he had always wanted to do <i>something</i> with it. But, then, as is wont to be in the hands of a writer in his prime, the book quickly became something else.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><i>The Hours</i>: the book</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Cunningham’s <i>The Hours</i> is a complex tribute, not only to <i>Mrs Dalloway</i>, the novel, and Virginia Woolf, its writer – but also to the league of extraordinary ordinary women whose suburban everyday lives Woolf had attempted to make worthy of great art, the value of whose lived experiences she had so vigorously defended in her feminist classic <i>A Room of One’s Own</i>. It is thus, Cunningham points out, a tribute to <i>his</i> mother.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">Consequently, there are three parallel stories in <i>The Hours</i>, three women living out one day in their lives. Virginia Woolf, in 1920s England, battles bouts of grave depression as she attempts to write her magnum opus, <i>Mrs Dalloway</i>, coming up with its memorable first line in the course of the morning – “Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself” – between interruptions by the maid and bursts of vague anxiety about her sister’s visit that was planned for later on in the day. Mrs Brown, a young housewife in 1940s postwar Los Angeles, pregnant with her second child, reads Woolf’s <i>Mrs Dalloway</i> with a searing hunger that throws the banal reality of her life in an off-kilter haze; even as she bakes a cake for her husband’s birthday, comforts a neighbor due to go into hospital – and in a strangely passionate moment finds herself kissing her – she contemplates suicide. Clarissa Vaughan, the contemporary Mrs Dalloway, a book editor, lives in Manhattan with her life partner Sally, and is throwing a party for her best friend and former lover, Richard-the-writer, who is dying of AIDS. In a continuous loop of engaging dialogue with Woolf’s <i>Mrs Dalloway</i>, Cunningham’s book begins: “There are still the flowers to buy. Clarissa feigns exasperation (though she loves doing errands like this), leaves Sally cleaning the bathroom, and runs out, promising to be back in half an hour.”<span> </span><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><i>The Hours</i>: the movie</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Translating the multi-layered narrative of this novel – crafted as it is, with emphasis on a poetic quality that is both spare and rich – into the medium of cinema is no mean task, but director Stephen Daldry and screenplay writer David Hare have come as close as it might be possible to a perfect compromise. They have pushed the frontiers of collaborative exercise to make a film that while is close enough to the novel, is true to its own form. That is, in my book, a big feat. <span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span> </span>The realities of Clarissa Vaughan, Laura Brown and Virginia Woolf, when set against the looming beauty and confinement of their tactile worlds, become powerful presences in the story. That is where the film provides a remarkable canvas to the complexity of sorrow, through its elaborate attention to detail: Virginia Woolf lies down on the soft mud in the dimly greenish light in her garden, beside a dead bird for whom her nephews and niece have arranged a funeral; Laura Brown drives into a posh hotel, in the afternoon, books a room, gets under the perfectly laundered sheets and fingers her little bottle of sleeping pills wondering what it would be like to die; Clarissa Vaughan separates eggs expertly into a bowl while talking of youth and love and the house they had shared one summer, to Louis, an old friend/beau, Cunningham’s counterpart to Peter Walsh. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b>Why watch?</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">The powerhouse performances. Nicole Kidman’s inspired performance as the tormented Virginia Woolf, battling with her demons and pining for London, even as she creates and crafts with the effortless felicity of genius which draws from some deep inscrutable pool within, won her the Academy Award. Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan (Dalloway) and Ed Harris as Richard-the-writer are exquisite, underplayed; Streep articulates with sensitivity the glamorous yet resonant banality of lives where freedoms have come by easily – and Harris, essays with aplomb, the poet who at the threshold of fame, realizes, most clearly, the extent of his failure. However, it is Julianne Moore as Laura Brown that, in my opinion, plays the most complicated, restrained and fiddly role. And finally, in one epiphanic moment, her character brings together all three stories in the climax, where Laura Brown’s chemistry with her little boy transcends to the deepest relationship that is suggested but not narrated in the film; the miasma of absences.<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b>Why read?</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">The sheer art of Cunningham’s prose. It is a tribute to Woolf alright, with its poetry, precision and jazz-like riffing where you don’t know exactly where the sentence is going to go and exactly how the meaning is going to strike your soul, but it does, and with what intensity.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b>T-2 pick</b>: Very very difficult choice – but the book. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Ultimately, the writerly voice has the freedom to problematize every little story, incident, version that it narrates – and thereby, give the characters a subtler finesse; that is the limitless possibility of words. The filmmaker who is operating within the genre of beginning-middle-and-end (in that order) cannot compete easily in this regard since he has to tell the stories in three hours or less – and get out of there. Thus the realizations that were profound in the head sound slightly mawkish out loud, as dialogue, and the deep insights into sexuality and memory that the book offers are partly lost in translation. The lines with which the film is drawn are far less blurry, and therein it expresses the impossible beauty, after all, of misreadings. </div></div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-8040533642303076102011-05-23T11:08:00.000-07:002011-05-23T11:16:42.358-07:00On Birthdays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">or why the spouse, though kindly, is lying </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Now, I am turning 27 tomorrow; apparently it’s the new 17, the spouse assures me. And apparently, heat and dust rules are suspended on the morrow, and I am allowed to spend on something completely unnecessary in its scheme. Except, I am always a little suspicious when he says that. He has other ways of getting back – but that is not the first thing on my mind tonight.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">I am not going to be 26 any longer; what can I say, I will miss it. It was a good age.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Being in Rishikesh, though, happily offers me a very good turning-over-yet-another-new-leaf symbol - and don't mistake me, but I love the faddishness that symbols imply. A dip in the Ganga, thereby, expiating the sins of not just the last 27 years but the last 27 lives possibly. It’s probably a good start. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">*</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIF34ZmP-AAs_w0vDHPVCltAAXyFP5kRrjQ-AK-P4hPJzG4hy5TANV_-oK6HHZrnUrnGMiQYGFnoovuHgzv9cXLWFsdBHyKc9518afNO5YdgXNOOEMj5im8BKAlTpnen8IFrKTyAAQCak/s1600/some+haidwar+%252B+rishikesh+086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIF34ZmP-AAs_w0vDHPVCltAAXyFP5kRrjQ-AK-P4hPJzG4hy5TANV_-oK6HHZrnUrnGMiQYGFnoovuHgzv9cXLWFsdBHyKc9518afNO5YdgXNOOEMj5im8BKAlTpnen8IFrKTyAAQCak/s320/some+haidwar+%252B+rishikesh+086.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">As I nibble my pre-birthday slice of cake, I indulge in nostalgia:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">When I was a kid, my mother threw me great birthdays. My friends from the school bus were invited; though the cake was never store-bought she always fashioned what I requested – say, I wanted a rabbit, I’d get a rabbit; she would cook a fabulous array with my grandmums and aunts and once, even made ice-cream ffrom scratch for everybody. There was always room in the neighbours’ refrigerators during birthdays and stuff.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Of course, being born in May, I never had the whole celebrating-your-birthday-in-the-school gig. The summer holidays would intervene. You went to class in what was called “colour dress” with a packet of sweets to distribute and the teachers would be very nice to you and not mention your spelling. Then, in one of the classes after recess you coyly went up to the teacher and asked to be excused so that you could go around school giving two sweets (from the pile remaining after each classmate had been given two as well) to <i>other </i>teachers. You were permitted to go – and wait for it, that’s not all – your best friend could go with you, to carry the bag, and to generally be helpful and sakhilike.<br />
<br />
That was the best part – you just roamed around the campus, interrupting other people’s classes and smiling sweetly as you handed out the two sweets. Some teachers complimented your dress, and ever since that moment, you always loved them. One year, I remember, I got really lucky – not only did I go once with my best friend Joyeeta, as the Class President (believe me, I'm not proud of this phase of my life) also with the new girl who had no best friend yet. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Then when we became teenagers, we would celebrate birthdays with more exclusivity; the best girlfriends would spend the day at home, chattering and drinking iced lemonade while the sun spewed gold over the grey Calcutta streets and trees, and ah, the sweetness of those long long afternoons. We were still so desperate to add on years to our total. And see, that’s why, 27 cannot be the new 17. At 17, I was desperate to jump a year, become 18, embrace adulthood, Baywatch and the vote all at once.<br />
<br />
And that's the difference between then and now – I am definitely not going to want to turn 28 a day sooner than I have to.So there it is, the truth.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Of course, I know I know this obsession with numbers is meaningless, and life is all about cyclicity and fullness – not linear progression – yada yada yada – but hell, I know I’d be lying through my teeth if I pretended I <i>like</i> 28 more than 27. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">And therefore, the wise conclusion: the spouse, though kindly, is lying. 27 is the new 27. And that is precisely why I am going to use the prerogative of adulthood and buy something useless to celebrate it! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-47782682368027864582011-05-19T11:17:00.000-07:002011-05-19T11:17:15.460-07:00the heat and dust project<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
</style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b></b></div><div> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b> the heat and dust project: disambiguation </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"> 1) a budget journey of india, with special reference to the budget bit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"> 2) (to be) a travelogue for harpercollins, who saw something in a crazy seed of an idea and for whatever it was worth, decided to lend their name to it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"> 3) a facebook group on the journey referred to in 1.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"> 4) a certifiably insane project.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPf2XPykwMSx-aR3Q7Ibp_km_OT4FCMrp5dZMp4Iy3VRplT8pSjPTXeK85DzGATu2rWI3VvFzBI4RTePuUI4VA_M5VWrkx21in5F0nY_5hcBBtwWE6uVfmeTNklY1awcwkgkrd3VTy2fY/s1600/Tajganj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPf2XPykwMSx-aR3Q7Ibp_km_OT4FCMrp5dZMp4Iy3VRplT8pSjPTXeK85DzGATu2rWI3VvFzBI4RTePuUI4VA_M5VWrkx21in5F0nY_5hcBBtwWE6uVfmeTNklY1awcwkgkrd3VTy2fY/s320/Tajganj.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tajganj, Agra</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">The heat and dust project was, like other insane ventures, born in a moment of false lucidity infused by tremendous hope. We would, as the age-old fantasy went (‘Moon River, wider than a mile/ I'm crossing you in style some day’), become fulltime travellers/drifters – at least for a while – and backpack through India, joining the ranks of British gap-year kids and Israeli youths fresh out of compulsory military service. We would leave behind hopping and skipping through the fixed hoops of modern-day middle-class adulthood. Desk-jobs, acquiring EMIs – you know, the respectable routine.<span> </span><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span>And since in moments of false lucidity one tends to overreach, it appeared in our heads to take the shape of a book – a fun, flaky, speaking, tree-like thing shooting out of nowhere – even on that hopeful misty evening a year or so ago, long before we'd actually ventured out on the journey. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span>For starters, it seemed like the crazy kind of book that <i>we'd</i> have liked to read ourselves. On Saturday afternoons as we treasured the few hours of utter sloth, or Monday mornings in unhappy autos, book in hand, collars scruffy, the clock in the head ticking ominously. What would it be like, to leave it all, and travel, break-neck or otherwise, and discover <i>that something</i>, between joy and sorrow, that seems to stir inchoate inside?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span>It would have to be on a budget of course. In fact, a very very tight budget – 500 a day for bead-and-board – and not only because, having left our money-earning routines we would be rather poor, but also because the most effective way of catching an intimate glimpse of the land was if we refused to be limited by the luxuries of travel with frills – if we ate budget, slept budget, and travelled in cramped budgety local buses for long hours. Hadn’t we, like all self-respecting humanities and social science graduates often waxed eloquently on ‘behalf’ of X, Y, or Z groups of ‘the disenfranchised’ and passionately discoursed upon ‘the idea of India’</span>?<span> Perhaps it was high time we got off our self-righteous high horses and did some close-to-the-grounds inspection of our long-held views.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">We began our travels in January, 2010, when we traipsed through Rajasthan and Gujarat, and subsequently, in Himachal Pradesh and Western UP. We returned to Delhi and spent a month among backpackers in Paharganj – where, we, as a married Indian couple, did not fit in really – but then we had our friends from the Rajasthan expedition, Moti and Zvika Hillel or The Twins. It helped that, as Israeli boys who’d just finished compulsory army training, they fitted into Paharganj beautifully! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">In May, we ventured into the heartlands; it was then that the journey became the heat and dust project. <span> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span>Indeed, there was something so humbling about the whole idea – and something so deeply complex and inward about the nature of what we were expecting – that we decided to turn the solitary act of writing on its head and make it a more collaborative process. Usually a book is written – if one might say so – in a (slightly self-important) solitude and only engages with the reader once it has been published. But given the technologies available today, it always seemed an idea full of possibilities that this act of meaning-making, apparently of grave solitariness, could be teased open into a much more meaningful but open-ended process where others (hopefully, future readers) were involved from the beginning. That is how the idea of the dynamic book was born. After all, we <i>do</i> live in the era of social networking where a certain part of people’s lives has become inextricably linked to the idea of push-button sharing.<span> </span>And given that the book was to be full of stories that we’d collect from different parts of India, it only made sense to put it ‘out there’ in the cosmos of the world wide web, a virtual hand, signalling to others of its need to share, to participate in a multi-logic space. Or at least that’s the theory behind it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span>That is how the facebook group ‘the heat and dust project: a book in motion’ came to be.<span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span>Born on 1 May, the day we began the second leg of the journey (we had covered a 20-day leg in January to assess feasibility within budget constraints) the group quickly became a very crucial part of the effort. As we began giving out funny stories, pictures and confessions while the journey progressed, it became a dynamic space of its own, growing steadily in numbers. Soon, with discussion threads ranging from food to favourite travelogues to suggestions and reprimands to sharing travel experiences, it became a living space full of humour, banter and wisdom. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73DhMGmijZUYtkGDiCPSaxCFYU4j9QZrVoCsgRb3L4foEEtP0OA2OE-zjqc08__3efSB2cQk0KaAWwIbZTnHiXASARSCGzN2dhat6yp3ftFLXMnoN-y9hch6RAv-EomxGqcaTtzdIlvU/s1600/heat+and+dust-3+264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73DhMGmijZUYtkGDiCPSaxCFYU4j9QZrVoCsgRb3L4foEEtP0OA2OE-zjqc08__3efSB2cQk0KaAWwIbZTnHiXASARSCGzN2dhat6yp3ftFLXMnoN-y9hch6RAv-EomxGqcaTtzdIlvU/s320/heat+and+dust-3+264.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">As the group continued to grow, we wandered: from Delhi we went to Agra, from Agra to Gwalior; then, journeying <span> </span>through the intense heat of Madhya Pradesh, to Maharashtra and Karnataka. As we entered Kerala – to Kannur from Coorg, the monsoons arrived. We journeyed down the coast to Kanyakumari and then climbed our way upwards through the beauties of Tamil Nadu. Completely broke and beleaguered in Chennai, we decided to take a break.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">That break became a long one. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">It is not easy to snip of fetters, even for a month or two, turns out. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Now we are here, finally, beginning our travels again. It is the heat and dust project, period; we still have limited funds; we mean to stick to the budget; we don’t know where we are going next; there are worries that stick like leeches to the inside of the soul; we can’t predict the ending.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">So – a day at a time – we must take it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">As I write this, we’re in Haridwar, the gateway to the hills and it was a long long journey from Delhi in a rickety bus but we reached at dusk when a pale full moon was gleaming over the waters. We’re worried sometimes that we have let the last two days just go by, vaguely, tiredly, we’ve let it go waste, we accost each other guiltily, for we were exhausted. But it is okay I guess. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Sometimes it is good enough to simply begin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-68181078060096979072011-05-19T03:38:00.000-07:002011-05-19T03:39:04.830-07:00The new therapist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 200%;">I</span>t is a truth universally acknowledged that an unemployed young woman with aspirations to a novel or two must be in search of a therapist. There are obstacles to this though: said young woman, in spite of the severity of her angst, cannot possibly afford one.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">In my case, however, the search for a therapist had begun much earlier – ever since age 13 to be precise, when I read Erich Segal’s <i>Doctors</i> and first came across the word “shrink”. It was imperative that I be analyzed immediately<i>.</i> The last time I had felt <i>this</i> strongly about something was when in Class 4 Amrapali Basu came one morning wearing a pair of the most dignified looking spectacles ever – and I prayed and prayed that my eyes might be diagnosed myopic too. I began reading in the dark in sheer desperation. I was blessed with glasses in a year, although the cosmic negotiations for the therapist took far longer. Over the next few years, I acquired several fashionable “issues”, persevered with tense inward strife and right before my Class X boards, was finally rewarded with a “counsellor”. It was good enough; the parents, practically blackmailed by their only offspring who was about to take the first big exam of middle-class Bengali life, paid the hefty fee. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 200%;">A</span>t age 25 when the husband and I returned to Calcutta, having given up our shiny corporate jobs, apparently to "do our own thing" the parents probably wouldn’t have minded paying for a therapist, if only to convince me of my monumental immaturity; naturally that is exactly why it wouldn’t do one bit to accede. That was when my 2-year-old nephew, Saksham, stepped into the role smartly, displaying intuitive understanding of several schools of thought in contemporary psychotherapy. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2R-SVFSFYZJ4lEpndJT6s5EKHQAhjefiB01wmJpxaoW1VCF8gwAzq6yK8kgCOrQm4aV4KwrVatFR-V_dz8t9NHO8RMwkFq63tep_4hvY3ZQ4IKTpMC8GjAOUsJKtAKjzbJGetO0PY5S0/s1600/heat+and+dust-3+866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2R-SVFSFYZJ4lEpndJT6s5EKHQAhjefiB01wmJpxaoW1VCF8gwAzq6yK8kgCOrQm4aV4KwrVatFR-V_dz8t9NHO8RMwkFq63tep_4hvY3ZQ4IKTpMC8GjAOUsJKtAKjzbJGetO0PY5S0/s320/heat+and+dust-3+866.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">At the centre of the engagement was the Freudian couch. He showed me its innate purpose: strew with toys, smear with food of choice – cheese – and then sprawl on, to watch cartoons. Naturally, being a self-respecting therapist, the programmes were of <i>his</i> choice; I was to merely benefit from them.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">He was apparently aware of the Gestalt model. We’d sit in the balcony when it rained, our hands stretched outside the black grilles and the sound of the swishing trees in our ears – and in the shift from the talking cure to the experiential sense, the realness of raindrops plopping fatly on my palm – the grey cloud from my heart would be sucked out and dispersed among its brothers in the sky. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">Saksham was superior to general shrinks in several ways:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">1)<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>He was available through the day – and much of the night.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">2)<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>The monetary investment was minimal. A balloon or a twenty-rupee toy of his choice if I was delegated to pick him up from school. (A toywallah sat very strategically just outside the gates.) A book once in a while, and that was not something he ever expected. Therapy hours could always be exchanged for play hours.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">3)<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Most importantly, he had the unique distinction of operating upon grief. The following story will explain.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">Early one morning around 5, I found him wandering about the hall. Neither of us were morning people really – but he was apparently looking for water and I had woken up from an acute anxiety attack compounded by the various characters – real and fictional – in my life; there are, I’ll have you know, many anxieties in remaining at home (make that the husband’s home), unemployed (possible unemployable), with nothing to show for except a long phantom pregnancy of a book in medias res. We met outside the kitchen, I was sighing; he indicated we might do well to sprawl on the couch and watch the telly – everyone else was asleep. He also indicated that he wanted the channel with the animals.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">Soon we were gripped. Discovery Channel was in the midst of a heart-rending story about an elephant pack in Indonesia where a baby elephant had been injured badly. A group of intrepid animal lovers and surgeons journeyed deep inside the forests, managed to locate the injured calf, explain to the rest of the clan that they meant well (I’m guessing this bit as I was slightly woozy and not exactly paying too much attention) and tranquilized the baby. Then they carried out an operation – wielding scalpels and scissors and large mounds of gauze – which was shown in great detail; it all ended well as there was happy footage from “a few weeks later” of the restored baby prancing among the trees and spraying water from its trunk fulfilledly. Saksham was, however, absolutely transfixed with the surgery. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">Through the rest of that day and on many days after that, he would spread out his doctor-kit and operate upon me, the pretend-baby elephant, and save my life. Soon, I began to look forward to it. I think, there is no sensation finer that being the passive recipient of being saved. And somehow, in that curious love that a little boy with curly hair and dark eyes could show repeatedly for a baby Indonesian elephant with absurdly big ears (acted out by his aunt in her green PJs), through that concern and empathy and dexterous scalpel-wielding, every time he operated on my sorrows too; a hundred times over, he saved my life.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">(This was a piece that Grazia had asked me to contribute for a story they were doing about "the new twists in classic relationships". I figured that the relationship with a therapist was fashionable enough to be classic. Saksham Jha, the therapist/nephew is now 3 years and one-quarter old and lives in Moscow with his parents and baby sister. He still takes a keen interest in elephants.)</div></div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-7604596649472180542011-05-18T00:46:00.000-07:002011-05-18T00:46:30.557-07:00Multiculti King Lear: a review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><b><i></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><b><i>To Whom it May Concern</i> by Priscila Uppal</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><b>Publisher: Penguin Books India</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><b>Pages: 342</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oSD15sho9N0dxkQq-sV48ieakuQrMIgGT3bHCXz0cH5pwZFsm_yo3rgLUuKIshxyGaINwpD7cgFui4GBR8LjY0V9aJNd2qdnhFZEMvCn2GSIl1pCBlgP7rgSXC4y70wken5o6fjEQbs/s1600/whom+it+may+concern.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oSD15sho9N0dxkQq-sV48ieakuQrMIgGT3bHCXz0cH5pwZFsm_yo3rgLUuKIshxyGaINwpD7cgFui4GBR8LjY0V9aJNd2qdnhFZEMvCn2GSIl1pCBlgP7rgSXC4y70wken5o6fjEQbs/s1600/whom+it+may+concern.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Priscila Uppal’s second novel <i>To Whom It May Concern</i> is an intriguing and resonant book. It is deep, layered, and written with a kind of luminous prose that, at its best, is whittled with fine felicity. It also, self-reflexively, draws attention to the strong element of intertextual engagement in its craft. The blurb informs us that this is a “modern, multicultural re-telling of Shakespeare’s <i>King Lear</i>”. That this nugget is handed out – fait accompli – at the very outset, poses an interesting problem: this overt suggestion by the author automatically prods the mind towards a certain kind of reading. Unconsciously the mind begins to look for parallels with <i>King Lear</i> – and deviations; not that there is anything wrong with this approach or this reading but the fact that it as good as lays out a map for the reader means that the book’s dialogue with <i>King</i> <i>Lear</i> is an element that is very very important to the author, so important that it is not enough that the text throws it up but that it <i>must</i> be laid bare.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Set in Ottawa, the novel centres around the Dange family <span> </span>– Hardev, the quadriplegic father who is attempting to hold his family together even as the bank forecloses on their house and the disability benefits offered by the government goes through severe cuts; Isobel, his estranged French-Canadian wife who had brought up the girls but is rather remote from their inner lives; <span> </span>Birendra, the oldest daughter who is about to get married to the suave government servant Victor; Emile, the second son, a brooding intellectual who studies curses and strives to come to terms with his own sexuality; and Dorothy, the youngest child, who is deaf but collects stories as a hobby from a noisy bar close to the tattoo and body piercing parlour where she works. The radiant cast of characters, each sharply drawn with memorable quirks and notions, also includes Rodriguez, Hardev’s homecare worker whose affection subsumes his criminal tendencies and Mohab, Emile’s Iranian friend/lover who is striving to reconcile his sexuality with his spiritual need to situate himself within Islam. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">The book engages closely with the question of multiculturalism – combining a subtle critique of the jingoistic jargon of a nation that has only in the recent past moved away from its WASP fixation and made a virtue of multiculturalism, of its “salad-bowl” culture (that is self-consciously distinct from the “melting-pot” that the USA prides itself on being) – and its attendant mythos. But at the same time, Uppal’s treatment of this theme is by no means simplistic – the elaborate lies of Rodriguez are as revealing as his truths. The fantasy he conjures to half-entertain Hardev and half-tolerate himself – that he is an immigrant with a large family, works several shifts to make ends meet and is too tired to study for the citizenship test – is an easier reality for him to bear than the severity of his truth: he was born in Canada, has served short prison terms for shop-lifting, and in his own words – “I guess I should tell you first that I am the worst kind of man. I am a man without family (P. 287).”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">And family is what emerges as the central concern of <i>To Whom It May Concern</i> – the strand that Uppal specifically <span> </span>singles out from the rich and dense web of sorrow and longing that <i>King Lear</i> is; she singles it out to tease open its layers, lend light on its fissures, solder it apart and then put it together again. Thus, while Shakespeare’s <i>King Lear</i> is arguably one of the greatest tragedies ever, in this novelized version set in this day and age, the arc of the story explores both the fracturing of the selves and families, and the hints of healing – from the linearity of tragedy as an art form to the robust roundness of the real, where tragic and comedic thrive together and resurface again and again in the course of life. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Uppal uses several postmodern strategies in her narrative. Towards the end of the book, several lies are revealed and we find that the intrusive author has often not been very helpful; but while this might not work for everybody, the ease with which Uppal marks shifts of time, space and point of view, without letting one’s attention falter is brilliant. The handling of sexuality is sensitive if touched with a dash of the bold. I do not recall anything I’ve read of late that compares with the raw power of the scene where Birendra has her clitoris pierced with a ring; as Dorothy who has been professionally trained in this prepares to do it, the sisters bond – and share secrets. The moment becomes an epiphanic one, not only for Birendra, but as a new high in the depiction of relationships between women in fiction. A long distance ahead, from what Virginia Woolf had pointed out as the watershed moment in literature, in <i>A Room of One’s Own</i>: </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 200%;">‘Chloe liked Olivia,’ I read. And then it struck me how immense a change was there. Chloe liked Olivia perhaps for the first time in literature. … It was strange to think that all the great women of fiction were, until Jane Austen’s day, not only seen by the other sex, but seen only in relation to the other sex<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4896527582292128253#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">In the final analysis, <i>To Whom It May Concern</i> is an important book, and its voice is both original and sensitive. My quibble with the novel however is this: Uppal is a seasoned academic, and sometimes that tends to seep into her style; for instance, the authorial intrusion at the very end (Chapter 20) appears a little forced. Something that makes the book rather <i>too</i> aware, <i>too</i> heavy. I do hope that in future novels, Uppal will wear her considerable learning a little more lightly. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">(Published in <i>Indian Literature</i>, May) </div><div><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div id="ftn1"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4896527582292128253#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> Woolf, Virginia. <i>A Room of One’s Own</i> (1929). New Delhi: UBS, 2004 </div></div></div></div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-7212709837688396242011-03-31T22:15:00.000-07:002011-03-31T22:23:11.355-07:00Karma in the Bookstore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://conversationalreading.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/bookstore1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://conversationalreading.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/bookstore1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
Once upon a time I used to enjoy hanging about bookstores. Wandering junkie-like for hours through the piles of books – picking one out, mentally criticizing something about it – mildly, dispassionately – and putting it down. Ferreting out a delish-looking book in a eureka moment, then finding it priced beyond my purse, and leaving it carelessly on the table. Etc. You know the routine. I would be relaxed inwardly, looking forward to spending an hour in the glass-panelled cafeteria upstairs with the books I would eventually purchase. So I took my time with the foreplay.<br />
<br />
No longer such joys for me.<br />
<br />
The beginnings of my misery might be located, unhappily, in what some consider crippling good fortune. The novel I had pounded away in grave secrecy for months had found a publisher. And before you ask, the advance was minuscule. But still – it was official – the manuscript had sold, and thereafter I walked about bookshops with the burden of my phantom pregnancy. Every now and then as I inhaled the smell of new covers and paper and books, I was assailed by an unreasonable but intense terror that <i>someone else </i>had <i>somehow</i> already written my novel and beaten me to its publication. Then, of course, there were petty – and completely ridiculous jealousies – on my part that is, about other newbie authors.<br />
<br />
Anyway, in the middle of this phantom indefinite pregnancy (the book would come out some time, they told me, in the near future – make what you will of that), the husband’s book was published. It’s called <i>The Upside Down Book of Nuclear Power</i> – and is a fabulous, path-breaking book on the subject. Well, what do you expect me to say? I’m a dedicatee.<br />
<br />
Fresh from the printer’s oven, six copies were sent home by post. After beholding the book from every conceivable angle, I slid on some shoes, grabbed an auto and rushed madly to the nearest bookstore. It was one of those shiny chains in a fashionable mall uptown – but for the moment it would do. I panted up the stairs hysterically, the husband (henceforth referred to as TH) following sheepishly in my wake. I charged in, went straight to the ‘New Releases’ section and, to my crushing dismay, did not find it displayed gloriously in the middle of an applauding circle of avid non-fiction (and nuclear energy) enthusiasts. It was afternoon. The store was empty save for lovers looking for quiet spots. The book was not there.<br />
<br />
I went to what was misleadingly called the ‘Help Desk’ and asked about the book. I spelt it out a few times and hinted that it was a very important contribution to human knowledge.<br />
‘What? The Upside Book? Of what??? No, no such book exists. It does? You are sure? Well, we don’t have it.’<br />
‘May I place an order?’<br />
‘If you insist.’<br />
I may have picked a fight at this point but TH dissuaded me and suggested I call the publishers.<br />
<br />
In five minutes I had recovered my poise and bounce. I hung up the phone importantly. With the air of somebody in the know explaining to somebody not, I told TH, ‘Oh, the author’s copies are sent straight away from the warehouse. The books have <i>just</i> been dispatched to distributors. It’ll be <i>at least two weeks</i> before they get to stores.’<br />
<br />
All was right with the world again. In all the excitement the phantom pregnancy was forgotten and I happily bought some books.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">*</div><br />
The two weeks went off slowly. Very very slowly. Then came D-day, and after many forays of hysterical eyeball exercise, scanning the ‘New Releases’ section and subsequently the shelves of umpteen bookstores, I found the book. A largish pile, with my name on the dedication page. It was an anti-climactic feeling.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.harpercollins.co.in/Book_CoverImage/2501_Full_UpsideDown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.harpercollins.co.in/Book_CoverImage/2501_Full_UpsideDown.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
Outside it was summer in Calcutta; people were milling about the floor in their lazy Saturday morning looseness of limbs. I was on my own. TH had refused to entertain my sadism any longer and did not accompany me on these outings. More fool he, for missing the pile. I admired it moodily. Whenever groups of people drifted towards the ‘New Releases’ section, I picked up the copy on the top purposefully and began leafing through its pages. As if the secret recipe to the elixir of life was contained therein. Not one person was impressed by my acting. They hemmed and hawed and bought other things.<br />
<br />
Finally, crushed, I took matters in my own hand and took the top-most book to the counter. At my chatty best, I went through the process of buying it. ‘So,’ I asked jokily, ‘how is the book doing?’ ‘Very well,’ the guy replied sweetly. My heart soared. ‘I sold three copies myself. Yesterday.’ My mouth became bitter and dry instantly. It couldn’t have been true. I had popped into the shop late last evening to pick up some gum. Till closing time, <i>The Upside Down Book</i> hadn’t been there. <br />
<br />
I drank my coffee in bitter silence. Why don’t people buy books? We are a country of over a billion people – and no one wants to know anything about nuclear power? In spite of what James Lovelock says – that’s it’s the only practical way of combating climate change?<br />
<br />
I ordered a pastry and came up with some wildly ambitious marketing ideas that naturally were far too original to be implemented. Mildly cheered up I made my way towards the exit. And perhaps, if one were to be hopeful, maybe the guy at the counter <i>had</i> been wrong about the day. Maybe he sold 3 copies <i>today</i>! Except, a sane voice told me, it was eleven in the morning. The store opened at ten. What were the odds that 3 human beings interested in nuclear power would come to the store within an hour of the book’s display? But who knows, stranger things happen.<br />
<br />
While leaving, on the spur of the moment, I casually asked a fresh-faced assistant in a red t-shirt who was wandering about vaguely looking for work, ‘Hi, do you have any books on nuclear power?’ (The already purchased book, you would note, was safely hidden in a packet.) What the hell, I was suddenly feeling magnanimous; I would buy another copy if required. That is, if she hung around me after directing me to the pile. How many times does one get to be a dedicatee?<br />
‘Sorry,’ Ms Red shirt smiled professionally, after I repeated the question. ‘No such books.’<br />
She flounced off to show some people where the Chetan Bhagats were kept.<br />
<br />
Pragmatically I decided against clawing my hair or bursting into tears or shouting at the nincompoops. Instead, I went downstairs and got the bill and the book matched against each other. The owner was walking around. He was a bald man with a happy face. ‘Hello,’ he said, and looked at my purchase. I wasn’t in the mood for any conversation. Naturally, he was.<br />
<br />
‘This is a new book.’ He pointed at <i>The Upside Down Book</i> that I was now re-packing into my bag. ‘Yesterday, we’d got three copies on trial in the morning, and you won’t believe it, all three sold out!’ I looked at him in amazement. ‘So we ordered twenty copies after that.’ Oh God, ohgod, ohgod!!! The man was rambling on, ‘Chetan Bhagat, also doing very well! You didn’t buy?’ ‘No thanks,’ I replied, and scattering smiles left and right, went into the sun. It’s a rare world - three strangers <i>had</i> come and bought the book. People who didn’t know TH or (the dedicatee) – from Adam!<br />
<br />
So now, while my phantom pregnancy stretches languidly, I still go to bookstores and buy books. But no longer is it the same; no longer am I what I once was. I still pick up books casually but no longer do I discard them as thoughtlessly. As each book whispers to me, ‘Buy me. Only 7.5 per cent royalty will go to the author. And you know the years she’s spent on this?’ Meekly, I apologize to the book and gently keep it down, ‘I know, I <i>know</i>. I wish I could take you home with me. But my advance was too small. Sorry. Really genuinely sorry.’<br />
<br />
<br />
And then the next book starts talking.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
(I wrote this last April when Saurav's book was just out. This year, events repeated themselves with great synchronicity, a few changes here or there!)</div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-64455759550966017062011-03-28T21:42:00.000-07:002011-03-28T21:42:24.048-07:00Witness the Night: a Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;"></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://kimbofo.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451bcff69e20147e197fedc970b-pi" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://kimbofo.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451bcff69e20147e197fedc970b-pi" width="205" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">How does one avoid the tyranny of dreams? The footsteps that keep taking you back to a house full of ghosts, where every window has a face staring from it, each face once beloved and known, now with bloodied eyes and grey lips, their hands drooping, bodies limp, yet yearning. They are all silent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Of the eight principal rasas that Bharata enumerates in his <i>Natyashastra</i>, the vibhatsa rasa is perhaps the most difficult to render effectively in literature, especially in a text as long as a novel. <span> </span>But the primary rasa of Kishwar Desai’s powerful novel <i>Witness the Night </i>(HarperCollins 2010) is undoubtedly vibhatsa – roughly translated as ‘the odious’ and traditionally represented by the colour blue and<span> </span>the deity Mahakala. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">The book begins on a chilling, almost surreal, note. Inside a palatial mansion in the posh Company Bagh neighbourhood of Jullundur, an entire family of thirteen has been brutally murdered. Fourteen-year-old Durga, the sole suspect, is found tied to a bed with signs of abuse on her body. Even as the ‘legal’ system tries to pin the murders on Durga, and she, in the aftermath of extreme shock refuses to talk about that night altogether, a social worker, Simran, is summoned from Delhi. Indeed, it is the only concession made for the minor Durga by the Inspector General of Punjab, Amarjit.<span> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Simran, Amarjit’s old flame, and the rather radical whisky-swigging, chain-smoking ‘khadi-clad NGO-wali’ – as she calls herself – in her early forties, is a misfit of sorts who immediately arrests the reader’s attention with a sharp original voice. Simran is a sparkling character, the likes of who are rather rare in contemporary genre fiction. Her self-deprecating humour and her phone calls – reported and otherwise – with her socialite mother obsessed with marrying her off – offer comic relief in an otherwise dark tale.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Simran has her own difficult history with Jullundur, the now no-longer-very-small town that she had outgrown and left in her early twenties. And while she battles with Durga’s difficult case - where every breakthrough is followed by a wall of complicitous silence and sordid secrets - she finds her own personal angst resurfacing, even as the murky politics of collusion between the police, the media and the judicial system suck her deeper and deeper into a mire of horrifying truths where nothing is what it seems. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">The larger cast of characters are well-drawn and ring true – Harpreetsir, the handsome green-eyed tutor who had taught Durga and her sister Sharda (who seems to have disappeared without a trace a year or so ago) with his quasi-mystical influence on all women including Simran; Binny, Durga’s pregnant sister-in-law, a British national and her only other surviving relative, who displays great fondness for Durga and hardly any for her dead husband; Ramnath, the villainous police inspector who seems bent on obstructing Simran at every step. If the last is a bit of a stereotype, it works well as an element in a novel that is structured like a thriller. As Simran begins to probe deeper and ask uncomfortable questions, hoping to understand Durga’s truth better, a reality emerges that is so horrifying in its dimensions that only the vibhatsa rasa can render its searing tale.<span> </span>A tragedy that is born as a consequence of extreme pain and humiliation that has been inflicted over long generations. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">And that is where <i>Witness the Night</i> becomes something else – from well-written genre fiction it becomes a haunting chronicle of the unspoken – gendercide. In a country where girls can go missing at any stage in their life – as foetuses, infants, and young women who might have made the mistake of falling in love with someone of their own choice – and in many cases, when they didn’t go missing, when an extreme death sentence was not pronounced over their heads, but they were made to live their entire lives as the less valuable ones in a society obsessed with male children, Desai’s book fulfils an imminent need – of making the subject of academic books and sporadic news flashes into the theme of a work of popular fiction, and therefore accessible to many more. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Saying that is, however, not to take away from the novel’s craft. Built neatly, it successfully walks the tightrope between crime fiction and psychological novel, with the voices of the three women directing the narrative; principally, Simran’s first-person account, then, Durga’s prison diary and finally, emails from Binny in the UK. This is a clever strategy as the suspense works on two levels – one, the whodunit; two, as the reader has access to Durga’s prison diary long before Simran does, it is very engaging to watch Simran trying to piece the truth – and the reader, always a step ahead, is rooting for her to not falter or give up. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090319/har3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090319/har3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">The backdrop is disturbingly real. Figures indicate that in urban Punjab and Haryana, the sex-ratio at birth is dangerously skewed and Chandigarh, one of the shiniest, newest, best-planned cities of modern India, has a sex ratio of 777:1000. The conclusion is self-evident: it is the rich who often with the help of technological advances are killing their girls far more than the poor. Another angle that Desai weaves into her narrative is the close cousin of gendercide – female trafficking, usually of minor girls from poorer states of India. Thus, the stark image of the rich landlord’s country house on the outskirts of Jullundur with a private harem of underage Bihari girls who are kept in semi-captivity and regularly give birth to illegitimate children. ‘The more I wrote,’ Desai says of her debut novel, ‘the angrier I got!’ </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">In spite of Desai’s strength – and experience of 30 years – as a journalist though, the telling of the tale does not descend into reportage; and that is primarily because Simran is a very engaging protagonist. Her anger, her despair are both finally transformative – and that is how the novel manages to reach a space of comparative calm – from where the strains of <span> </span>vibhatsa changes colours into karuna rasa. By avoiding a tidy ending and imagining one which offers possibilities for individual redemption <i>Witness the Night</i>, not only draws to our attention some of the deeper cultural malaises that we Indians need to confront and redress, but also creates an exemplary protagonist who offers strange optimism in cynical times. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">Desai is currently working on Simran’s next – and one definitely looks forward to it. <span> </span><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><span>(Published in December <i>in The Bengal Post</i>.) </span><span> </span></div></div>devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4896527582292128253.post-10071828290572062682011-03-27T08:53:00.000-07:002014-03-11T01:15:44.519-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
devapriyaroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995653588057316394noreply@blogger.com15