‘YOU ARE A WIZARD HARRY’

When Joanne Rowling was born 52 years ago on 31^st July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England to Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling in a very humble background, no body probably realized that a star was born who would grow up to light the minds of an entire generation and more with magic, an inspiration who would give the dying Young Adult Fantasy genre a new life and hundreds of authors would later follow her footsteps.

Rowling’s story is a typical ‘rags to riches’ one but there is nothing mundane or ordinary about it, when one take a closer look at her long struggle, it becomes very clear that every single hardship that plagued her life defined her character and in many ways, gave fodder to her masterpiece. Her disturbed childhood, with an extremely strained relationship with her father, her mother’s long illness and her seeking solace in books because she felt that no one understood her , later gave her strength to give birth to the character of Hermione Granger, a character who she has confessed to be most alike her. It is of course unlikely that Rowling was thinking of flying brooms, spells or house rivalries when she started school at St. Michael’s Primary School at Winterbourne, but it has been hinted that her then headmaster Alfred Dunn became her inspiration for writing the enigmatic and very esoteric headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Studying French and Classics at the University of Exeter was never really her plan as she aspired to be a part of the reputed Oxford University, but she nevertheless embraced the opportunity with open arms.

It was on a four- hour- delayed train trip from Manchester to London, that idea of a young boy attending a school for wizardry and witchcraft first entered her mind and she went on to write her ideas, the moment she reached home. It was during that time when she was still writing Harry Potter, that Rowling lost her mother. Harry’s pain and remorse over his mother’s death is very much Rowling’s own. But her struggle that would test her mettle started after she moved to Portugal and found herself in a strained and abusive marriage, a life she walked out of with an infant daughter and a suitcase with the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, carrying with her nothing but regret and a feeling that her life was an utter failure. The concept of ‘dementers’ is the product of her depression and remorse. It was in those years living in Edinburg , Scotland in poverty without a job and with an infant Jessica to take care of , that Rowling actually started writing Harry Potter full time.

Rowling adopted her grandmother’s name Kathleen, for her penname J.K as her publishers believed that young boys would probably not like to read a fantasy book on a wizard boy, written by a woman, but since their publication, the amount of woman writers writing fantasy novels has sky rocketed and the YA genre is laden with promising woman writers.

The Harry Potter books are a brand in itself, to say that their only accolade is to be the bestselling book series of all time would be wrong. Harry Potter is a way of life, being a ‘potterhead’ is a part of one’s being, it’s not merely the largest fandom ever, it is also the most important one for an entire generation. The Harry Potter generation speaks for every dreamer, every curious child who aspires for a letter in a faded brown paper brought in by an ugly owl asserting their acceptance at the biggest school for wizardry and witchcraft. If the mid- 20th century kids looked inside their closet for a distant fairy land with fawns and a giant lion in a majestic place called Narnia then this is the generation which believes that there is an another world in the other side of the wall, a world that watches over us with wonder, amusement and at times contempt, a world we all desperately seek to be a part of. Did Rowling realise what she was giving the world when she wrote Harry, Hermione and Ron? Did she have an inkling that the word ‘always’ would become almost as sacred as a sermon after she made her most complex and difficult character utter them? Perhaps not, perhaps she was merely giving all the characters a part of herself, perhaps in doing so she created something she never really hoped for.

Or may be perhaps she knew all along that she was giving a generation a way of living, a generation who doesn’t remember a life before Harry Potter.

It would hardly be fair to say that Rowling doesn’t have her flaws, her protagonist Harry is extremely flawed himself, but like Harry, it is Rowling’s flaws that make her series so beautiful. In her excessive detailing of every scene, in her over creativity and in her somewhat twisted sense of justice, Rowling made her books a legend. These attributes are so unique of Rowling, that they became beautiful under her penmanship. Edgar Poe’s famous commentary, ‘’There is no exquisite beauty…without some strangeness in the proportion’’ is very defining of Rowling and her works.

As this maestro who has been bestowed with several  honorary titles from the British Crown and alike turns 52, it is well to remember her as a legend who showed the reading public a new world, a world that would be kept alive across the globe by its lovers. Harry Potter shall always live in the hearts of the billion Potterheads and the stories written in Potterverse will never exhaust and in those stories. JK Rowling will live on forever and would continue to be the light that would ignite the imagination.

- Annesha Mahanta

Munshi Premchand: A legacy unprecedented

A most ardent scholar from the realist school of literature, Munshi Premchand spoke to the very heart of the reading public, with his unique humour and devoted observation and commentary on the social life of that period.

Born as Dhanpat Rai in the year 1880 on 31st of July in the Lamhi village near Varanasi to Ajaib Lal (a post office clerk) and Anandi Devi (a housewife from Karauni village), Premchand was brought up with immense love and care especially from his grandfather. It has been noted that he was an ardent scholar of books from a very ripe age and started learning Persian and Urdu at a Madrassa where his formal education began at the age of 7. A very significant and defining incident that gave shape to his thinking and countenance was the death of his mother and his father's subsequent remarriage. His precarious relationship with his stepmother and the repercussions of his childhood played an integral and defining role in his future writings.

It was only after his enrollment in a missionary school that Premchand learnt English and read George W. M. Reynolds’s eight-volume series named 'The Mysteries of the Court of London, and even though he took admission at Queen's College , in Benares, he couldn't really continue his education because of his early marriage and the untimely death of his father.

 His life after his father's death became an epitome of struggle and sacrifices, but Premchand never really gave up on his love for reading and writing, and continued to cherish and pursue his greatest ambition, his greatest dream , amidst all that chaos that had taken over his life.

      As the literature lovers across the world marks his 137^th, birth anniversary, it is important to remember, that this master novelist and story writer who in his life time gave Indian literature 14 novels and 300 short stories, a feat quite magnificent was a man quite ahead of his time and quite ahead of the humble dwellings that he found himself in by the virtue of his birth. Premchand was a socialist, a feminist and in a society where the peasants, widows, and prostitutes were oppressed and looked down upon, he was an advocate and preacher for their rights and equality. His writings are a living proof of how much bothered and worried he was by the social atrocities of his time, and how zealously he hoped to be the beacon of hope and change that he desperately wanted to see in the world, and perhaps that is why his writings were more social than political, something quite unlike the then trend back then

His short stories ‘Idgah’, ‘Kafan’, ‘Do Bailon ki Katha’  and ‘Shatranj ke Khiladi’  amongst others reflects his genius and his brilliant command over the written word which consisted of a delicious combination of Hindi and Urdu. In these stories Premchand creates an enchantment using the mundanity of human relations. There is something in Hamid saving his pocket money to buy a chimta for his grandmother who had burned her fingers while making chapattis, something in the projection of an Indian farmer’s attachment to his cattle and something in his profound understanding of a child’s psychology, that still moves the reader to tears and reflects an undeniable candor, even after a hundred years since their publication and perhaps it is the very reason that his short stories are still a very prime part of the school curriculum across the country.

       Premchand was a feeling author, he felt the pain of those around him with an intensity that was very much unique of him, and he channelised this very moving intensity into his writings. His novels ‘Karmabhoomi’  set against the backdrop of Satyagraha movement and ‘Nirmala’  which takes up the daunting issue of dowry depicts how well this maestro understood his subject and how much he stood apart from his contemporaries like Jaishankar Prashad and Sharatchandra Chattopadhyaya. These novels along with ‘Sevsadan Mansarovar’ are a symbol of Premchand’s formulating genius and writing but it was with his ‘Godan’ and ‘Gaban’, that he reached his cult status. Considered to be his magnum opus, these canonical works brought out the best of Premchand. His definition of literature as ‘sahitya jeevan ki aalochana hain’ (literature is the device to examine human life) is nowhere better stressed upon than in these novels, where Premchand muses over humanity and nature with a brilliant but almost sad commentary and with a rare but endearing humour. His characters are not ideal; they are aesthete but lacking virulence, very much like his writings and in them he created something universal, they speak to all ages, because in them the reader finds oneself, regardless of the timeline. There are no ghosts in Premchand, his works palpitates with blood, and it is as warm as a living flesh and as serene as the morning sun.

But when one takes a look at his essays, they seem to portray a new side of Premchand; a picture of a human being in search for truth, a restless artist whose views resonates with that of George Orwell. ‘Saahitya ka aadhar’, ‘Saahitya ki pragati’ and ‘Saahitya aur manovigyaan’  talks about his belief that literature could bring beauty to this world and make this world a better place. He was very much like the romantics, William Wordworth, John Keats and Lord Byron in his juxtaposing truth and beauty. Empathy and aesthetic went hand in hand for him and he chased this very sensory pleasure to attain an enriched conscience, not only for himself but also for his indifferent and somewhat clueless middle class reader.

Munshi Premchand stands alone with his remarkable sensitivity, precocious literary abilities, and colloquial diction lacking any esotericism and with a vision bright and vivid. Though his life was cut short at the age of 56, his works surely has attained a greater significance since then, an almost revered importance that makes him live in his writings and would continue to do so.

In his strange ability to leave the reader spellbound, in his role as a torch bearer to the numerous marginalised people and in his search for the greater good, laid a heart of a voracious reader, a reader who loved the very essence of texts, a worshipper of the written word and a priest of the religion that is literature, Munshi Premchand remains a figure quite unmatched, a picture of thought and justice, a novel that would probably never cease to mesmerise its reader.

- Ms. Annesha Mahanta

The Dominant One

                                         Haiñ aur bhī duniyā meñ suḳhan-var bahut achchhe

Kahte haiñ ki 'ġhālib' kā hai andāz-e-bayāñ aur

(Indeed the universe own many great eloquent, but they say,

‘Ghalib’ possess a unique style of narration)

Mirza Ghalib was a preeminent Urdu and Persian language poet during the last years of Mughal Empire. His name is synonymous with Urdu poetry and is considered by many as the greatest Urdu poet ever.

The life history of Ghalib is truly fascinating and his biography indeed makes a captivating read.

The real name of Ghalib was Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan. Later, he adopted 'Mirza Ghalib' (Ghalib means dominant) as his pen name. His honorifics were 'Dabir-ul-mulk' and ‘Najm-ud-Daula’, as specified by last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Mirza Ubaidullah Beg was his father, who tied the knot with Izzatun-nisa in Agra. She gave birth to Mirza Ghalib on 27^th December, 1797.

Na thā kuchh to ḳhudā thā 

Kuchh na hotā to ḳhudā hotā

Duboyā mujh ko hone ne

 Na hotā maiñ to kyā hotā

(In nothingness God was there, if naught he would persist
Existence has sunk me, what loss, if I didn’t exist)

During his childhood, Ghalib lost his parents. His upbringing was done by his uncle Mirza Nasrullah Beg Khan, but when he was eight years old, his uncle also died. Ghalib took to poetry at an early age and wrote his first poem for his teacher when he was only eleven.

Mirza Ghalib got his initial education by Molvi Mohammad Muazzam who was a renowned scholar of Agra. During his early life, a traveller, Abdus Samad came from Iran to stay in Agra. He stayed with Ghalib and his family for two years. It is presumed that Ghalib learnt Persian, Arabic, logic, philosophy etc. from him.

Kyuuñ jal gayā na tāb-e-ruḳh-e-yār dekh kar

Jaltā huuñ apnī tāqat-e-dīdār dekh kar

(Why didn’t I turn to ashes seeing her face so glowing, bright

By envy now I am flamed, at strength of my own sight)

In 1810, when Mirza was only thirteen years old, he got married to Umrao Begum. She had a contrasting personality when compared to him. They had seven children, but unfortunately none of them survived. This pain has also found its way into his poetry. In the same year, he left his hometown and moved to Delhi. This migration was a major turning point in his life. He befriended some of the most respected and intelligent people of Delhi

Apnī galī meñ mujh ko na kar dafn baad-e-qatl
Mere pate se ḳhalq ko kyuuñ tere ghar mile

 (In your street, do not inter me, when I cease to be
Why should people find your house when they look for me)

He also became an important courtier of the royal court of  Bahadur Shah Zafar.  As the Emperor was himself a poet, Mirza Ghalib was appointed as his poet tutor in 1854. He was also appointed by the Emperor as the royal historian of Mughal Court.

Being a member of declining Mughal nobility and old landed aristocracy, he never worked for a livelihood and lived on either royal patronage of the Emperor, credit or the generosity of his friends.
Alcohol consumption and irregular lifestyle took a toll on his health and he passed away on 15^th February 1869.

Mirza Ghalib occupies a place of pride in world literature. He is also one of the most quotable poets having couplets for almost all situations of life. Ghalib today remains popular not only in India and Pakistan but also amongst diaspora communities around the world.

--Ms.Mazia Ahmed

You can order Ghalib merchandise here - http://bit.ly/2oC7JJs

Famous Writers , Infamous Habits

We often read a story and wonder how it occurred to its author, or how they decided to put it on paper. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon that the mode of writing is often a result of a writer’s personal eccentric habits. Many authors could not put down their coffee while writing, many others needed to puff cigarettes as they wrote. Let’s have a look at some of the very odd ones.

Friedrich von Schiller
The German poet and philosopher, Friedrich Schiller, would keep rotten apples in his desk drawer. He would deliberately let the apples rot, because the aroma (or the pungent odour) inspired him to write. This was relayed to his readers by his friend Goethe, who once had the fortunate (or unfortunate) opportunity of being at Schiller’s desk himself, where he could smell the odour emanating from the rotten apples. 

Victor Hugo
Hugo was known to have purposely driven himself to write
​The Hunchback of Notre Dame ​ against a deadline of a little over six months. He put himself on house arrest and locked away all his clothes, so he wouldn’t be lured to leave the house or attend a party. It is often said he wrote in a state of complete nakedness. And yes, he met his deadline.  Honor​é​ de Balzac The French novelist Honoré de Balzac consumed some 40 to 50 cups of coffee a day to get his creative juices flowing. Some sources says that he would take a 90-minute nap twice or thrice during a day, and continue to write during the rest. 

Tennessee Williams
The famous American author and playwright, known for his masterpiece ​A Streetcar Named Desire was known to have struggled through an alcohol addiction. He could not write without a certain amount of alcohol in his system. This addiction eventually led to his death, when he choked on a bottle cap due to his inability to spit it out in a state of drunkenness. 

Truman Capote
The famous American author, Truman Capote, had a variety of personal idiosyncrasies. He couldn’t begin or end anything on a Friday. He wrote on his bed, lying down, with a cigarette and a cup of coffee always handy. 

Lord Byron
The famous Romantic poet, Lord Byron, needed to have sex to write. He was a bi-sexual, and was known to have slept with over 250 men and women in a single year at Venice, and to remember each of his adventures, he clipped a strand of his partner’s pubic hair and saved it in an envelope marked with his or her name. 

Charles Dickens
The much-loved author of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens, visited the morgue regularly. He used to spend hours at a morgue, just staring at the dead bodies. It fascinated him to look at the human bodies, dead and naked. The researches have gone to lengths to prove that Dickens was also obsessed with the idea of cannibalism. 

Charles Baudelaire
The French poet had a very odd habit of keeping his pet bat in a cage on his writing desk. Apparently, looking at his bat helped him in articulating his ideas into poetry better. He also talked about his bat, obsessively, at lengths, during interviews and social gatherings. 

(Contributed by Ms.Mokshda Manchanda)