tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25198328113399735442024-03-27T02:33:17.382-07:00Books etc blogBooks etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-41187413598381940692024-03-27T02:19:00.000-07:002024-03-27T02:32:44.915-07:00Sakina's Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag<p> <i>'I find getting killed preferable'</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Vivek Shanbhag is a Kannada author and playwright became
whose first book to be translated into English – '</span><i style="text-align: left;">Gachar Ghochar’</i><span style="text-align: left;">, published in 2016 received a lot of critical
acclaim and made him a household name in the world of Indian English fiction writing.
It won numerous awards, was translated into many other languages world-wide and
hence his next work was eagerly awaited. </span><i style="text-align: left;">Sakina’s
Kiss </i><span style="text-align: left;">(Penguin Random House, 2023) is his new book (translated by Srinath
Perur, who had </span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">also translated </span><i style="text-align: left;">Gachar Ghochar</i><span style="text-align: left;">) and it does not
disappoint though it is much lengthier (180 pages) than </span><i style="text-align: left;">Gachar Ghochar</i><span style="text-align: left;">
(115 pages). I mentioned the length because brevity is Vivek’s strength and that
made his first book so powerful.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_fUlymv6_uGHxtZsWY5xHWmRQCHOClu5Q00rydpMGjXPp9Bx46Psyy0lzTjaHLn3ya60WjZTeVMs1vytVXPyQRQ3EWR9xyYlY1fmQkeVgOzUm4IBwQXOIP8I0u1NEKstZ6lAg4_pysPYwBQQT6DIFy3ERWyhCoq2zVBQgDEkEGhaYZ2tpm_K-cbJLPUF/s1500/SK.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="939" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_fUlymv6_uGHxtZsWY5xHWmRQCHOClu5Q00rydpMGjXPp9Bx46Psyy0lzTjaHLn3ya60WjZTeVMs1vytVXPyQRQ3EWR9xyYlY1fmQkeVgOzUm4IBwQXOIP8I0u1NEKstZ6lAg4_pysPYwBQQT6DIFy3ERWyhCoq2zVBQgDEkEGhaYZ2tpm_K-cbJLPUF/s320/SK.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>A typical middle-class couple’s (Venkat and Viji) college
going daughter, Rekha, goes to visit her ancestral village. Meanwhile, a couple
of students from her college pay a visit to the couple enquiring about her. On
further enquiry it is revealed that although the daughter left for home from
the village, she then went incommunicado. The couple rush to the village where
the ancestral home and the land is being looked after by Venkat’s uncle Antanna.
A journalist in the village may or may not know about Rekha’s whereabouts. The
visit brings back memories to Venkat of growing up in the village along with
his extended family and he is forced to confront the unpleasant secrets buried
there. The fragile inter and intra family relationships and complexities are
gradually revealed though not explicitly (as I think is Vivek’s signature
style). A lot is left unsaid and it is up to the reader to take the cues and
interpret in his /her own way. There are multiple open possibilities and the
dice can roll any which way.<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unlike <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gachar Gochar</i>,
on occasions I did find the narrative meandering but not for long. Apart from
the gaze on the frailties of human relations, this book also makes a telling
commentary on several other issues plaguing the country including the state of
journalism and students’ politics.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you liked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gachar
Gochar</i>, you should go for this one as well. If you have not read either
then my suggestion would be to embark on the journey asap.<o:p></o:p></p>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-83221515147292493172024-03-02T21:13:00.000-08:002024-03-02T21:13:32.002-08:00City on Fire - A Boyhood in Aligarh by Zayed Masroor Khan<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>‘I will never have the courage to completely abandon
my home , Aligarh- a beautiful curse’<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I assume for many people, especially from urban areas,
reading Zeyad Masroor Khan’s poignant coming of age memoir, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">City on Fire</i> (Harper Collins, 2023)
would be like entering a parallel universe where you never know when your neighborhood
will turn on you or your family and a riot can break out at the drop of a hat.
Having experienced this from close quarters once, I can assure you that it can
be a horrible experience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For others who
have grown up in similar and small communally sensitive towns like Meerut or
Moradabad will be able to identify more with his story which is based in
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIShlBbDZHNlHV850ZfPSE6NNZHwbvshwTVZGmzWK-Lw1RHcJx3k9i6Ylu-gd0BMxEqpJjtKdKhbPh4vgGB8dXLNdhZghkRuU2GgaJarONn6za9urPgKjPD8NpN73s16BPCBmhYkaghzAh0XDSQlM6iyVFeS42BNSycTPXgXjHUr0IrdQCmWPkxYQMDUt/s466/61ZehK2YaML._SY466_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIShlBbDZHNlHV850ZfPSE6NNZHwbvshwTVZGmzWK-Lw1RHcJx3k9i6Ylu-gd0BMxEqpJjtKdKhbPh4vgGB8dXLNdhZghkRuU2GgaJarONn6za9urPgKjPD8NpN73s16BPCBmhYkaghzAh0XDSQlM6iyVFeS42BNSycTPXgXjHUr0IrdQCmWPkxYQMDUt/s320/61ZehK2YaML._SY466_.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Aligarh is normally in the news because of AMU (Aligarh
Muslim University) or due to the recent news of request for its name change to ‘Hari’garh
from ‘Ali’garh by a section of the right-wing. Only a few kilometers away from
the University, are located densely populated colonies with crisscrossing narrow
roads (‘How can a lane be this narrow?’) which have often been ravaged by
deadly riots in the past and are sharply divided on communal lines namely Hindu
areas and Muslim areas. The author grew up in one such colony (Uber Kot) in his
ancestral home (Farsh Manzil) in a joint family. The author tracks his journey
from growing up in this Muslim ghetto to going to school and university, first
in Aligarh and then in Delhi to working in Delhi and finally being back to
Aligarh to focus on his writing. It is quite interesting to realize that even
though there’s always an underlying animosity between the two neighborhoods,
they also cannot do without each other because of the commercial inter-dependence
on each other. At another level it is frightening to imagine that the person
whom you’ve know for a long time and been talking normally all this time might
just take your life the next moment! The author also interweaves in this
journey, the personal happening in his life as the joint family grew and the
tensions it created within. I think he has nicely balanced this internal personal
narrative along with the external.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While in Delhi he realizes that the hatred and animosity he
thought he had left behind in Aligarh had followed him to the big city as he is
forced to abandon his home in Delhi during the peak of the anti-CAA protest
which lead to riots in parts of the capital city. As they say the more you try to
run from something, the more you may be nearing it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, the author ends on a reconciliatory and hopeful
note in spite of what we have witnessed in the last decade, which I guess is a
testament to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his love for his ‘home’.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-53748620834688955582024-02-13T06:54:00.000-08:002024-02-13T21:29:26.421-08:00Dream Machine by Laurent Daudet and Appupen<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <u> <b>Dream Machine</b></u></p></blockquote></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps one of the most disruptive events in the recent
times has been the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022.<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Saba" datetime="2024-02-13T19:37"> </ins></span>The world has
since been embroiled in analyzing the dangers and benefits of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) with several doomsday scenarios already floating around. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, what exactly does the rise of AI mean for us and the
world? How can it be harnessed for the good of mankind and the not-so good uses
it can be put to? <span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Saba" datetime="2024-02-13T19:38">‘</del></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dream
Machine</i><span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Saba" datetime="2024-02-13T19:38">’</del></span> (Westland Books, 2024), a new
graphic novel by the graphic artist Appupen (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moonward</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Legends of Halahala</i>)
and Laurent Daudet (Physics professor and CEO of an AI start-up) attempts to
answer some of the questions surrounding the break-through technology.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQA9EjUPfNeLaK8IDGbs_p5Vc9mBA9Em0yWpdHGeTDyPYzzk2d-F8F8kgJaMvocHLhoQHICcJP9KBn92OeVmIsQfH5T_5ikGPau2rXFdrlnfh3GPKv1JexXljC1_K-2GYkZdR35BHA-1eMrgAxEriF23rX-HIX6vOu860vFESOTePj7Ttck7kwqI5Mj29/s1500/Dream%20Machine.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1062" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQA9EjUPfNeLaK8IDGbs_p5Vc9mBA9Em0yWpdHGeTDyPYzzk2d-F8F8kgJaMvocHLhoQHICcJP9KBn92OeVmIsQfH5T_5ikGPau2rXFdrlnfh3GPKv1JexXljC1_K-2GYkZdR35BHA-1eMrgAxEriF23rX-HIX6vOu860vFESOTePj7Ttck7kwqI5Mj29/s320/Dream%20Machine.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>Hugo runs a Paris based AI startup called KLAI with whom a
large technology company called REAL wants to sign an exclusive deal to utilize
KLAI’s technology for their upcoming AI products. Hugo and his team are obviously
excited as this offer promises to carry them to the big league (and maybe a
bigger flat for Hugo and his partner Anna). REAL is pressurizing Hugo not to overthink<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and get aboard quickly (‘because there is
not enough time to think or wait for proof. It is the opportunity that we must
seize’).<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Saba" datetime="2024-02-13T19:39">,</ins></span> discussions with his fellow
scientists, friends (including a graphic artist who could be Appupen himself)
and an international watchdog group working for ethical AI raises doubts in
Hogo’s mind regarding the actual intentions and aim of REAL. They could be
working towards a technology which can imperil democracies and freedom around
the world amongst other things. He is now in a dilemma as to whether he
should go ahead with the deal or not? What would be the best way to use AI?
What are some of the ethical issues at the heart of the debate?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The novel is text heavy as it includes a brief description on
how AI and its components work. This could prove to be a bit dense for some
people and I feel they could have edited some of these details out. Appupen’s
graphic work, with its intricate linework, is wonderful as usual. A little
abstract but completely in sync with the story and helps to helps to clarify
the concepts touched upon. At 156 pages, the graphic is not a quick read and you
need to spend time with it to get the best out of it. Even though the
story is based in Europe, it touches upon a lot of issues we in India have been
facing over the last decade and I am sure a lot of you will be able to identify
with the concerns raised.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Recommended if you are interested in AI and it's potential or a fan of Appupen's art.</p><br /><p></p>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-55344985307058609852022-08-17T00:16:00.000-07:002022-08-17T00:16:21.748-07:00Tears of the Begums - Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Tears of the Begums - Stories of Survivors of the Uprising of 1857</b> </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in -30.65pt 0.0001pt -28.35pt; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">On the 11th of May, when
the mob from Meerut entered daily, nobody would have thought it to be the end
of the Mughal Empire. The fire of passion spread across North India, and with
it, the stature of the Mughal Crown burned to ashes. Many writers have written
about the events of Ghadar, but few writers have presented first-hand accounts
of the whole event. Khwaja Hasan Nizami has written 12 books on the Ghadar of
1857. In these books, he has given a detailed account of how the events
unfolded during and after the Ghadar. In his book, <i>Begumaat ke Ansoo</i>,
translated as <i>Tears of the Begums</i> by Rana Safvi, he interviews various
Mughal Princes and Princess who narrate the tales of their suffering.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -28.35pt; margin-right: -30.65pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in -30.65pt 0.0001pt -28.35pt; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MZ7sEMuzQnlRDhiTXU0BNulekVsVwQAZymeEGuThWd3saFEYJvU5UOzENvgfdV_U5qsSu6KWWt_B35a0oynjaoh1HLgfbFsuwogfTQBLqddoEmombL2mHlzlN8tNmfugdSvRG8i4e672wdzDZrkv6T653DMM9RSctCiZ3Eai6TFjC1GMr-ymrb9i5A/s499/translate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MZ7sEMuzQnlRDhiTXU0BNulekVsVwQAZymeEGuThWd3saFEYJvU5UOzENvgfdV_U5qsSu6KWWt_B35a0oynjaoh1HLgfbFsuwogfTQBLqddoEmombL2mHlzlN8tNmfugdSvRG8i4e672wdzDZrkv6T653DMM9RSctCiZ3Eai6TFjC1GMr-ymrb9i5A/s320/translate.jpg" width="208" /></a></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -28.35pt; margin-right: -30.65pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Even though the title
suggests that the book might focus solely on the royal womenfolk, there are a
handful of first-hand narratives of many princes as well. Nonetheless, no
matter who narrates their sufferings, the reader cannot help but feel sorry for
them. One theme that is heavily present is that of 'helplessness'. In a matter
of hours, everything was taken away from them. The ones who ruled the entire
nation at one point were now beaten, abused, left to beg. The subjects of the
Mughal court, in a matter of hours, changed their loyalties and turned their
backs onto the royal blood. The book is a magnificent, heart-wrenching and
moving collection which depicts the repercussions of the Ghadar and the
cruel<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>vengeance that was meted out
towards the people who had nothing to do with it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -28.35pt; margin-right: -30.65pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Rana Safvi's
translation, <i>Tears of the Begums (published by Hachette India)</i>, beautifully captures the essence of
their plights and mishaps. She has retained a few original words that helps the
reader to connect better. Her book is an attempt for the non-Urdu readers to
reconnect with the past and understand how history has largely forgotten the
members of the Mughal family.</span></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><b>-Sudipta Agarwal</b></p><div style="text-align: left;">Phd Scholar, Department of English<br />JMI<br />New Delhi</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;">You can order the book here - <a href="https://bit.ly/3a7obdW" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3a7obdW</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -28.35pt; margin-right: -30.65pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -28.35pt; margin-right: -30.65pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -28.35pt; margin-right: -30.65pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></p>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-84763528815699577502022-06-23T00:11:00.001-07:002022-06-23T00:11:44.484-07:00Hope On - Book Review by Nandita Basu<p> <b><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light",sans-serif;">Hope
on</span></b><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif;"> is a
pleasant collection of short stories in full colour, where writers and
illustrators from different backgrounds have collaborated. Short story collection, narrated in the comic
form is not very common in the Indian space of comic writing. Hope on plugs
itself in that space, and it is a rather pleasant exploration of very personal
experiences and stories.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif;">Because
of the varied backgrounds of the illustrators and writers, each story has a
distinct narrative and art style.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light",sans-serif;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcWaC3Ko5tzFuotPl3tyYUi-VBfLgok_gRppg9CTLnt2DDTB0_VT5EdCJFJlCIG4Q-RIwqoxdQOKLX0h91OelSjOjt8ILXguyk-JadKZbCfgBo4f234PIEjP4xqeM3skubXmLJQJB3XBEFBVtnWvptO0JJyI78Sz6C-7ALmsHUsK7_pVl4JfJoB8C0Q/s2480/GRAPHIC1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2480" data-original-width="1748" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcWaC3Ko5tzFuotPl3tyYUi-VBfLgok_gRppg9CTLnt2DDTB0_VT5EdCJFJlCIG4Q-RIwqoxdQOKLX0h91OelSjOjt8ILXguyk-JadKZbCfgBo4f234PIEjP4xqeM3skubXmLJQJB3XBEFBVtnWvptO0JJyI78Sz6C-7ALmsHUsK7_pVl4JfJoB8C0Q/s320/GRAPHIC1.png" width="226" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light",sans-serif;">Short
stories can be hard to deliver and especially in the graphic narrative form.
The stories in Hope on manage to put across both the emotion and graphic
content smoothly. The stories are an easy read, each story has a different art
style. However the difference in consistency
with the art styles might bother some readers.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light",sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif;">But
that also helps the book draw up it’s own flavour. Almost like a bouquet of flowers. So it can
come across as a bit of a mash up with the art styles but as you read on you
will start enjoying it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light",sans-serif;">This
book is a quick refreshing read. Often with lighter reads there is always the
danger of losing out on the emotive content. Hope hits the bulls eye there.
Even if the stories are short and breezy, make no mistake it is loaded with a
lot of emotions that make you feel, think some cases smile. And the best part
is like the name of the book suggests the stories all of a ray of hope shining
through. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light",sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif;">Each
story feels like you are sitting over a nice cup of coffee and having a
conversation with both the writer and the illustrator. It does provide that
sense of intimacy with the reader.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light",sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Any good book is always
about how it connects with a reader. And finally it all boils down to that.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Bahnschrift Light, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">- Nandita Basu, graphic </span>artist<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and author of </span></span><i style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Piano</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shop for the book here -</span><span style="background-color: #242526; color: #e4e6eb; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 py34i1dx" href="https://t.co/cIkbzrzLLr?fbclid=IwAR2vMGxgqTYxLE-8i53x9iHoncPLRTxVs6CtYRatCP-TJT469gUNXJeIJno" original_target="https://t.co/cikbzrzllr?fbclid=iwar2vmgxgqtyxle-8i53x9ihoncplrtxvs6ctyratcp-tjt469gunxjeijno" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #242526; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation; white-space: pre-wrap;" tabindex="0" target="_blank" waprocessedanchor="true" waprocessedid="lbm5b">https://t.co/cIkbzrzLLr</a></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div mcafee_wa_ann="{"rep":-24,"cat":[178],"ufg":6,"url":"https://t.co/cikbzrzllr?fbclid=iwar2vmgxgqtyxle-8i53x9ihoncplrtxvs6ctyratcp-tjt469gunxjeijno","dossierUrl":"https://t.co/cikbzrzllr?fbclid=iwar2vmgxgqtyxle-8i53x9ihoncplrtxvs6ctyratcp-tjt469gunxjeijno"}" style="background-color: #242526; color: #e4e6eb; cursor: default; display: inline-block; float: none; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px; position: relative; top: 2px; white-space: pre-wrap; z-index: 1;" waprocessedid="lbm5b"></div></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Bahnschrift Light", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-18163236653394715442021-12-08T06:12:00.001-08:002021-12-08T06:54:14.776-08:00<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b> Q&A with graphic novelist Nandita Basu</b></p></blockquote><p><i>Rain Must Fall</i> is author Nandita Basu's second graphic novel ( <i>The Piano</i> being the first). It is a tender coming of age story of a teenager and her friendship with a ghost and how they both help each other to resolve personal contentious issues. A wonderful story, which will appeal to all teenagers as well as adults.</p><p>Here's a brief Q&A with Nandita, conducted over mail.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Q1. So let’s start from the beginning. When did you realise
you wanted to be a graphic novelist? Are you a professional visual artist or
self-trained?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3465a4;">Well I was in my twenties when I
was introduced to Franco-Dutch graphic novels by a friend and that world drew me
in completely. I was into writing but this introduction changed my expression.
As far as being an artist goes, I am not trained. I used to draw comic panels
and illustrations to entertain a very dear friend of mine who was terminally
ill. Writing stories and drawing was a way to brighten up her day.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q2. What in your opinion is more important in a graphic
novel – the visuals or the story? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #5983b0;">It’s actually a very delicate
balance. Words and visuals are constantly in conversation with each other, and
if any one of them become dominant, it could just end up sounding like an
argument. I suppose it is much like brewing a good cup of tea. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q3. Since you also play the piano, was your first graphic
novel (<i>The Piano</i>) partly autobiographical?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #5983b0;">No, it’s not autobiographical.
But having said that, I think every writer ends up expressing some part of
their life sub-consciously in a book. Of course the piano, Marcus Aurelius is
a real piano that I own and I do relate to it as more than an inanimate object .
But I have never had to lose it thankfully. But that’s where the similarity
ends.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q4. Now about your latest (2<sup>nd</sup>) work- <i>Rain
Must Fall</i>. How did this come about?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #5983b0;">Honestly, I don’t plan books.
They just happen. So in this case. Rain just fell. It took me about four months
to finish it. This was right in the middle of the pandemic. But I must add, it
was not because I had a lot of time on my hands then:) It was quite the
contrary. So I have no idea how <i>Rain Must Fall</i> ended up happening. It just did.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q5. How did the idea of using a ghost (albeit a friendly
one) as an important character come to you?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #5983b0;">We are all ghosts inside, aren’t
we!! The spirit is the finer part in us, ( that’s my belief) and it is beyond
boundaries of society . So I felt the friend Rumi had to encounter quite literally
had to be out of this world. Besides, When I was about 14, I had a great desire
to meet the ghost of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and hang out with him. Of course
that never happened. That was also an inspiration for Rain.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q6. Rumi is rather an unusual name for the teenage
protagonist. Any specific idea behind it?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #5983b0;">Yes, I love Rumi’s poetry. This
poet found eternal truth and in that way his name stands for freedom for me.
For me that name represents </span><span style="color: #5983b0; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">going beyond the physical form.
</span><span style="color: #5983b0;">I wanted the main character of my
book to carry a name that speaks of the same freedom. It also fit the character
because I didn’t want a conventional
gender oriented name for the protagonist.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q7. Do you think confusion regarding gender (as in the case
of Rumi) is a common phenomenon nowadays amongst teenagers? If yes, why?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #729fcf;">Well, I don’t believe it’s
confusion. It’s more about someone confronting their own truth. And it’s a
process, the time involved can be different for everyone. The way one
approaches it can also be different. These days teenagers are more aware and
have a lot more avenues and information which they can access when they
identify differently. So that just gives them more space to express and even
start understanding their own feelings. That’s the only reason one gets to
see/hear about it more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilYhpkkkN2ULRuNDxYn6yl3lEMOqE-qS8zWOFfbkj8nfdsT2mQe5tdaSKqn5mZSrnvaOtRQipbvtYwC4P2abNPAPnB5p-iwaBqqIMt8LRz-7cs52dih4TBSUVwPBy2sxl7WLtpKFTrp6LP/s2048/graphic+nandita.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1582" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilYhpkkkN2ULRuNDxYn6yl3lEMOqE-qS8zWOFfbkj8nfdsT2mQe5tdaSKqn5mZSrnvaOtRQipbvtYwC4P2abNPAPnB5p-iwaBqqIMt8LRz-7cs52dih4TBSUVwPBy2sxl7WLtpKFTrp6LP/s320/graphic+nandita.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br />Q8. I think in India there’s still low acceptance of boys
opting for activities traditionally associated with girls ( like the character
of Dada in the novel). What do you think?<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #729fcf;">Absolutely, but if I may add,
the Arts as a discipline is not a preferred professional choice for most
families, (I don’t think this is restricted to India alone). Add that to a boy
and it’s a recipe for disaster.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q9. <i>Rain Must Fall</i> is a much longer work than <i>The
Piano</i>. Was this intentional? And how long did it take to complete it?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #729fcf;">Yes, <i>The Piano</i> was meant for a
different age group. Another thing I wanted to convey in that book was a sense
of time passing without the reader being caught in it. So the briefness was
important. <i>Rain Must Fall</i>, is meant for a slightly older audience , also the
story has a lot more emotions, the characters needed a little more depth as
opposed to the one’s in <i>The Piano</i>. Like I have mentioned earlier I finished it
in four months. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q10. Do you write down the story first and then work on the
graphics or both the things go on simultaneously?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3465a4;">It’s integrated. I actually see
most of the pages and hear the dialogues in my mind before I write and draw.
And once I start drawing/writing it’s all at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q11. Both your works have been in monochrome. Why so? Also,
would you like to continue in the same vein or add colour in future?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3465a4;">Well, one reason is I feel I
have more control when I use black and white. Also, it is more cost effective
for the publisher. I do not see my self using a full colour palatte even in the
future. It would at best be 3 colours. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q12. Any major influences? Which is your favourite graphic
novel?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3465a4;">Well inspiration maybe.
Influence would mean I would have to be insanely talented to integrate certain
art styles in my work. I don’t believe I fall in that category. I love the work
of Comes (Belgian/Dutch graphic comic artist), I adore the illustrations of
Sukumar Ray. I don’t have one particular favourite book, but the one’s that
come to mind right now – Stilte (Dutch), Persopolis, Maus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q13. How do you think you have evolved from your first
graphic novel to this one?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3465a4;">Well, I always seem to have a
problem knitting the middle part of a story, I think I am getting a little
better with that. But maybe the reader will know better.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Q14. What is your next project?<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3465a4;">Like I said before, books happen
to me. So when the next story decides to appear I will start engaging with it.
Right now there are just glimpses of it, so there is not much to say there.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3465a4;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">You can buy the book here - <a href="https://bit.ly/32ujRkK">https://bit.ly/32ujRkK</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> Literary gifts for all - <a href="https://booksetcstore.com">https://booksetcstore.com</a></p><p><br /></p>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-46415452497205663392021-11-21T07:13:00.002-08:002021-11-21T07:33:52.816-08:00Getting to know Shakti Comics, new publisher of Phantom comics in India<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><u>Q
& A with Shakti Comics</u></span></b></h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><u><br /></u></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q1.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Congratulations on your first issues of Phantom, Mandrake and Flash
Gordon. </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Tell us about the</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"> response you are getting?</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> The response is tremendous. It is beyond our expectations whether it
is Hindi, English or</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Bangla. We are getting lots of emails, messages and phone calls from
readers mentioning</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">that they are happy with our work and our sellers are also very happy
as the stock they</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">acquired initially is sold out very soon and almost all of them
reordered.<br /></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q2.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Tell us briefly about Shakti comics. Since when are you in business?
Who are the team<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">members?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Of course, Shakti Comics has actually been here in the comic field
since 2004, then, it<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">was a retail shop in Meerut (near New Delhi) where people used to get comics on rent. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">In 2020, we launched </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">it online and started publishing in 2021. The Team Members are:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">1. Mr. Shankar, a very senior Phantom Phan since the times of Indrajal
comics<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">2. Shakti Studios: takes care of translation and cover art management.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">3. Artist: we have Anupam Sinha Sir onboard, well renowned Indian
artist who has<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">created many Indian Super Heroes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">4. Ankit Mitra: An International Level Art enthusiast: Phantom Cover
Artist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">5. Subhomoy Kundu: Nostalgic Art Enthusiast: Bengali version
Production Head.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q3.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> How / Why did you decide to get into publishing from retailing?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> It was a great experience to make sure comics were reaching readers
through our efforts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">in the new normal. Still there was a huge void to be filled as there
are only a few publishers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">that too are producing very few new stories. Then we decided that our
role should be<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">changed from retailer to publisher to do something for the Indian
comic industry, especially<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">for regional comic fans who have a limited number of titles to read.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q4.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> How/Why did you shortlist Phantom, Mandrake and Flash Gordon for your
first<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">publication?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Yes! Here comes the question… When we decided to switch our role. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">We
were thinking of many </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"> stories and characters… then Mr Shankar suggested </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">why </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">not
Betaal (Hindi </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">for the </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">Phantom)? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"> The obvious answer was “Regal has that…” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">Mr Shankar then </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"> asked why they </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">are not printing in Hindi?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">So, we contacted King feature syndicate and acquired the rights for
Hindi and Bangla<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">(exclusive) and English (shared with Regal). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">During the discussions
with King Feature </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">Syndicate we locked Mandrake </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">and Flash Gordon also. Today, we are very
happy with the </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">response</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">from the public for all three characters.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q5</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">. Are you a Phantom and Mandrake fan yourself?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Yeah… I read all Indrajal comics on rent during my childhood, some of
them I purchased<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">and collected also.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q6</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">. What are some of the challenges that you faced while coming out with
the first issues?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Most of the team members were new and not much aware about the Phantom
except Mr.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Shankar that too upto 1990. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">After that we were totally untouched by the changes that came to the Phantom
universe. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Then in India </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"> we do not have Phantom artists for cover arts also. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">But
still we managed and results were in front of us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q7.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> We already have a publisher for Phantom and Mandrake comics in India
i.e, Regal. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">How </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">are you different from them?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> We are focused on making a premium product. Regal has the phantom and
Mandrake but<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">not Flash Gordon nor the rights of Hindi and Bangla. And for Phantom
also the stories are<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">different. Apart from that we are focused on making every issue a more
collectible one in<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">every aspect… cover art… back cover design, story title… binding and
paper quality of<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">international standards.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q8.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> How do you explain the recent growth of interest in Phantom and
Mandrake comics in<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">India?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> It was always there… English readers were always enthusiastic about
them. Now the<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Hindi and Bangla readers are also getting these through us so we are
happy that we are<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">bringing them in regional languages as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q9.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> The first 3 issues have come out in 3 Indian languages-Hindi, Bangla
and English. Do<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">you plan to publish in other regional languages as well?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Yes, if we will get enough demand then we will definitely be happy to
publish in other<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">languages also.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q10.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> How difficult was it to find a good translator for the Hindi and
Bangla version?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Hindi translation was not so tough as we all are quite good in Hindi
and English. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">But, yes </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">Bangla translation was a little difficult. Initially, we gave the
responsibility </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">to a translator but he </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">could not cross the bar, then it was given to Subhamoy </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">and team and
they did it very well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q11.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> You have chosen a very different, smaller size for the comics (~ B5)
as compared to<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Regal or Frew. Any particular reason the same? Will you continue to
publish in the same<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">format?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> There are three reasons:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">1.The size is very good for KFS strip placement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">2. Also Indrajal used to come in the similar size<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">3. In this size there is no wastage of paper… and Phantom loves the Jungle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q12</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">. How do you choose the cover artist for the comics?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Initially we wanted to put some amalgamation of Indian touch to Phantom
that's why we<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">chose Anupam Sinha and Subhomoy to revive the nostalgia. But now we
are taking it more<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">seriously and the theme is more important. Some artists do bright
stories well, some do dark<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">ones better like Ankit Mitra. So, we are going according to that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q13</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">. What will be the frequency of publishing these comics?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 21.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 21pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT; mso-fareast-font-family: ArialMT;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">We would like to catch up on a monthly publication scheme<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">Q14</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">. What are your plans for the future? Are you going to add more
characters to your<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">publishing list?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">A.</span></b><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"> Yes of course we will add more characters. Some are already in
contract. some are in<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;">process.
Also, indigenous stories are in the pipeline.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvQ-M6KhO7FKANYB9ckC6SjUsrjUCBIC7XONXJZvy_Cif-khCuAkbW7rp3mvq11EKUUdhu18uy1oDeHP1io8cho5CSOW0VPGSAGwnDZ-SdmOU2HUDJSMMhj0xje7qskMdtYciNwU87r63/s2048/phantom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1525" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvQ-M6KhO7FKANYB9ckC6SjUsrjUCBIC7XONXJZvy_Cif-khCuAkbW7rp3mvq11EKUUdhu18uy1oDeHP1io8cho5CSOW0VPGSAGwnDZ-SdmOU2HUDJSMMhj0xje7qskMdtYciNwU87r63/s320/phantom.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">You can order your copy of the comics here - </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; text-align: left;">https://www.shakticomics.com</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">One stop shop for your favourite literary merchandise - https://booksetcstore.com</span></p><br /><p></p>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-65724457315258074372021-01-03T04:29:00.004-08:002021-01-03T05:15:44.194-08:00Interview with new Phantom artist - Sanjay Valecha<div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello Phans,</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">Hope you have enjoyed reading the 2 Christmas special Phantom comics from Regal publications (Kerela,India) which came out in December 2020. The artwork in the stories (written by TonyDepaul) is by one of my favorite Phantom artist -Paul Ryan.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">The cover artist for one of these 2 comics was the seasoned Indian Phantom artist - Vincent Moses Raja.(We interviewed him earlier and you can find that interview on this blog).</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">The other cover was drawn by a new artist - Sanjay Valecha. It features a 'pumped up' Phantom taking on the bad guys along with his trusted partner Devil</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">We managed to talk to Sanjay and given below is a brief Q&A with him</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div><br /></div>Q1. Tell us briefly about your background.Are you a professional artist? Where exactly do you stay? </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div>My name is Sanjay Valecha. My home town is Neemuch (Madhya pradesh - <i>A state in Central India</i>). Art is my hobby but I have made it my part-time profession since last 2 years. In this time I have worked on at least 10-12 comics for different publishers and many other book cover and concept arts. I couldn't complete my study, due to personal reasons, but I am studying now from distance education. I am working at Municipal council Neemuch as a computer operator.</div><div>Earlier I was working at a printing press as a graphic designer in part time. I gives at least 4 hours daily to my illustration work.</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q2. Who were your inspirations? Did you get inspired by any particular artist? </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">From my childhood I loved reading comics. They are two Indian comics artists who always inspire me, first is Mr.Dheeraj Verma and the second is Mr. Edison George a.k.a Manu. I like both of them for there artworks and art techniques.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q3. Are you a Phantom fan yourself? When were you introduced to Phantom?</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">Of-course I am a Phantom fan. I have read many comics of Phantoms and I have a collection too</span></div><div><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Q4. Have you drawn Phantom for any other publication earlier?</span><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">No. It’s first time I have drawn Phantom for any publisher.</span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Q5. How do the current Phantom artists compare with the classic ones like McCoy/Sy Barry?</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">The classics had their own style which is very different from the current artists.They can't be compared</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q6. What do you think is the reason for Phantom's enduring popularity in India?</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">I think the simplicity of the stories of Phantom's comics is the main reason for the enduring popularity in India.</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Q7. How did you get to draw the cover for the Phantom comics by Regal?</span><br /></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222;"> </span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222;"> Being a passionate </span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">illustrator, I saw an ad of Regal comics and I contact them to do the cover .</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvuUfGHFUAr3NQVyk8CtHYECi9vjnAC7PsiL0qux5SAwh5fen4IYAi1rtVp-NgV0vIED3qDghWVXT21Uy-bFd22PYJT58cJSohmiOX2CqxIw8S3je2mDC3tlLKwCeOFyKMxcGAV7pPyyJ/s2048/Valecha+Cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvuUfGHFUAr3NQVyk8CtHYECi9vjnAC7PsiL0qux5SAwh5fen4IYAi1rtVp-NgV0vIED3qDghWVXT21Uy-bFd22PYJT58cJSohmiOX2CqxIw8S3je2mDC3tlLKwCeOFyKMxcGAV7pPyyJ/w230-h294/Valecha+Cover.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div>Q8. Did you receive any guidelines from King Features to draw the cover?</div><div> </div><div> No</div><div><br /></div><div>Q9. Were you able to read the stories before you drew the cover ?</div><div> </div><div> No</div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q.10. Do you draw digitally now or the traditional way using paper and pencil?</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I draw in the traditional way using paper and pencil</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q11. What has been the feedback so far on your cover art for the Phantom comic?</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have not received any so far (<i> Phans go ahead and tell him what you felt about the cover art. Feedback is always good for the artists)</i></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q.12 Would you like to do a complete Phantom story someday?</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">Yes, of course. If I get the chance, I would love to do it</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Q.13 Do you accept commissions and how can people contact you for the same?</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You contact me at +919009291167 or mail me at svalecha2013@gmail.com</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are having trouble getting hold of Phantom comics by Regal contact them directly at 94810 52592</div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="https://booksetcstore.com">Visit our site</a></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div></div>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-8023822518985011642020-10-31T23:05:00.000-07:002020-10-31T23:05:05.247-07:00Interview with new Phantom cover artist - Luca Erbetta<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <u>Q & A with the cover artist of Phantom comics published by Regal publishers in India</u></p></blockquote><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><br /></h3><div><br /></div><div>The new editions (No.3 & 4) of Phantom comics are now out and no Phan can afford to miss them.</div><div>Exciting stories, improved printing and great cover art by new artists.</div><div>We decided to reach out to the artist Luca Erbetta who had done the cover for No.4 edition and he was kind enough to patiently answer our questions </div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Q1. Tell us briefly
about your background. Are you a professional artist? Where exactly do you
stay? Where did you study? etc<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
I'm a professional Italian comic book artist and illustrator, and I'm currently
living in France.<br />
I've done this job for the last 19 years, mostly for French publishers, but
also for US, Swedish and Australian publisher. <br />
</span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
<br />
Q2. Who were your inspirations? Did you get inspired by any particular
artist?<br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">I have many
inspirations, from US, Italians, Argentinian and French comics. Joe Kubert,
Alan Davis, Ralph Meyer, Hermann, Domingo Mandrafina...The list is too long to
do it! I also love looking at some classic painters and illustrators, like
Zorn, Sorolla, Mort Kunstler, Dean Cornwell...</span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Q3. Are you a
Phantom fan yourself? When were you introduced to Phantom?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
Yes! I don't remember exactly when I've started to read the Phantom. I was
probably around twenty-five, but immediately loved the character, and the Idea
of a Phantom dynasty.</span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
<br />
<br />
Q.4 Tell us a bit about Phantom comics publishing in Italy. is
Phantom still popular there?<br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Phantom has been
quite popular in Italy in the sixties. He was known as "L'uomo
mascherato" (the masked man). It has been published until the nineties,
then it has almost disappeared, and now it's just a thing for nostalgic fans.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #500050; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q5. How did
you get to draw Phantom covers for Fantomen?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">
<br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Thanks to a friend,
I've discovered that the Phantom was still be published in Sweden, were they
produced new stories and also plenty of new covers.<br />
I've sent a portfolio to the editor. He liked it and he proposed me to do some
covers.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3430qAh6Z-tB1C_sDsmILfIvlzxqWy_UQtyjGhq6Csss8KByOQzHsDfiMXCJFftazaHhvcznn3dQWPCQDTzxLSZYJ-FG5e_qD39ghW4E0m0mFRxXTpx_M5U-xY59r3A7ULUYajPPkxI6w/s2048/Fantomen+Cover+Pirates+low.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3430qAh6Z-tB1C_sDsmILfIvlzxqWy_UQtyjGhq6Csss8KByOQzHsDfiMXCJFftazaHhvcznn3dQWPCQDTzxLSZYJ-FG5e_qD39ghW4E0m0mFRxXTpx_M5U-xY59r3A7ULUYajPPkxI6w/s320/Fantomen+Cover+Pirates+low.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Q6. Who is your
favourite Phantom artist ? Why ?<br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">From the past, Sy
Berry, of course. From the actual artists, Henrik Sahlstrom. His covers are
amazing. Very powerful and effective!!!<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Q7. How do the
current Phantom artists compare with the classic ones like McCoy/Sy Barry?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
Personally, It's hard. But I understood that I can't do what they did, and that
I have to find a way to b get "my" Phantom.</span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Q8. How did you
decide to get to draw the cover for the Phantom comics by Regal?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
My dream is to do at least one Phantom cover for each country where is
published. So, I've contacted Regal and asked them if they were interested.<br />
</span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
<br />
Q9. Did you receive any guidelines from King Features to draw the cover?<br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">No. I never have
any guidelines from KF. Just from the local editors. In this case, from Regal.
They just asked me to do a "Phantom in the jungle". So ,that's what I
did! 😊<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkC_Un-EB8KJUxaY4nYyxOiq32qYGOZikBZBu4_eYqbqEzl2dskc0nB0uS2t-hlFsL4d8nqu7iD2M7V-yegJgaQN-9w7EklKtIzSm-MFChQVPqj65bke6pvEwr5JARVpNyXcUCY4D0wml/s1634/Phantom+Cover+Regal+low.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1634" data-original-width="1151" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkC_Un-EB8KJUxaY4nYyxOiq32qYGOZikBZBu4_eYqbqEzl2dskc0nB0uS2t-hlFsL4d8nqu7iD2M7V-yegJgaQN-9w7EklKtIzSm-MFChQVPqj65bke6pvEwr5JARVpNyXcUCY4D0wml/s320/Phantom+Cover+Regal+low.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Q10. Were you able
to read the stories before you drew the cover ?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
No. That almost never happens.</span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
<br />
<br />
Q.11 Do you draw digitally now or the traditional way using paper and pencil?</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
I use both. The Phantom cover I did for Regal was done in ink on paper, then
colored in Photoshop.</span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
<br />
<br />
Q12. Have you also drawn Mandrake the magician ? (other popular character
created by Lee Falk)?</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
No, never. But I love magicians, and it would be fun, </span>someday<span style="font-size: 12pt;">!</span></span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
<br />
<br />
Q13. What has been the feedback so far on your cover art for the Phantom comic?</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Astonishingly good! It can happen that sometimes, someone doesn't like a
particular cover, but generally I have very, very good </span>feedback<span style="font-size: 12pt;">!</span></span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
<br />
<br />
Q.14 Would you like to do a complete Phantom story someday?</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Jo9LPqShSODKGhX_4AG2c69CVJkNodXS1Hb6Qvw28HHeQzVbZFMEUw31PVDRRVRIerklfFQxJpMAjUjjGSlhhDiQvJyudGhaG2AIPH9TrJQpt7eomf3MLENIVQ9ximCgiQDcbw-qY2Al/s1594/Fantomen+Satans+Horn+color+low.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1594" data-original-width="1063" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Jo9LPqShSODKGhX_4AG2c69CVJkNodXS1Hb6Qvw28HHeQzVbZFMEUw31PVDRRVRIerklfFQxJpMAjUjjGSlhhDiQvJyudGhaG2AIPH9TrJQpt7eomf3MLENIVQ9ximCgiQDcbw-qY2Al/s320/Fantomen+Satans+Horn+color+low.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Yes. But I would do it only if all the conditions are good (time, money, and a
very good story) So, for the moment, I can't. But we will never know.<br /></span><span style="color: #500050; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br /><br />
Q.15 Do you accept commissions and how can people contact you for the
same?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yes. But, I'm just very busy, so, even if I have very few requests, if someone
asks me, it must be veeery, patient. 😊</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">
<br />
If you want to follow me online, you can go to my Instagram page:<br />
and subscribe for my newsletter at: <span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="http://www.lucaerbettaart.com/" target="_blank">www.lucaerbettaart.com</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Contact Regal publishers for the comics @ 94810 52592 (India)</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Also available with Frew in Australia</i></span></p><br /></div>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-19399921464130489032020-08-15T01:00:00.002-07:002020-08-15T01:13:44.571-07:00Interview with Phantom cover artist - Vincent M Raja<p style="text-align: center;"><b> Q&A with the cover artist of new Phantom comics - Vincent M Raja</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;">Q1. Tell us briefly about your background. Are you a professional
artist?<br />
<br />
Ans. Yes, I am a professional artist.<br />
I am a native of Tamil Nadu (a state in India) and settled down in Chennai.<br />
Started my career in 1982 and have worked with many publishing houses </span><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYndr4VrcajcdYrnM1JFI0ASS32-_FiybpJMIfrDX03-sWZRMRIUKqF8Hl9hkni0yUYDEzqhPXITcvGd80WGo9nqURdg6m8k2YhwuaPfyJ_vwlRfoWg5lZqW8pZ-Aj_mie53eR1nBdG-pk/s1280/Phantom+regal+1.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="886" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYndr4VrcajcdYrnM1JFI0ASS32-_FiybpJMIfrDX03-sWZRMRIUKqF8Hl9hkni0yUYDEzqhPXITcvGd80WGo9nqURdg6m8k2YhwuaPfyJ_vwlRfoWg5lZqW8pZ-Aj_mie53eR1nBdG-pk/w221-h320/Phantom+regal+1.jpg" width="221" /></a><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
am also a comics creator for children and adults. Creating puzzles and DIY
paper models are my other jobs.<br />
<br />
Q2. Are you a Phantom fan yourself? When were you introduced to Phantom?<br />
<br />
Ans. Yes, I am a big fan of the Phantom.<br />
I was introduced to the Phantom when I was 3 or 4 years old! My father used to
buy Indrajal comics and the colourful frames must have attracted me to the
books, and I got hooked to them. I didn't know the names of the Phantom or the
book, but it was only <i>'mukamoodi pusthakam'</i> (the masked man's
book) for me! As I was interested in drawing, my chalk drawings changed from a
man or car or bus to the <i>'mukamoodi,</i> and our house floors were
filled with masked man stick figures!<br />
I learned my art from Indrajal comics. The Phantom became my reference for
anatomy study!<br />
<br />
Q3. Have you drawn Phantom earlier as well?<br />
Ans. Not professionally, except for an article in the Hindu's 'Young World'
supplement once. And also for a contribution to the Phantom
Phundraiser book for the Australian</span><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Bushfire relief.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;">
<br />
Q4. Who is your favourite Phantom artist? Why?<br />
Ans. My favourite is Jim Aparo.<br />
I like his frame cuts, action sequences and the different angles he (and we)
views the actions from! Every frame brims with life. '<i>The Phantom of
Shangri-La</i>' and '<i>The Pharaoh Phantom</i>' are good examples.<br />
<br />
Q5. How do the current Phantom artists compare with the classic ones like
McCoy/Sy Barry?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;">Ans.
This comparison can be done only by peers. I am just a novice in Phantom art
and nobody to compare the professional Phantom illustrators to the great
legends.<br />
<br />
Q6. What do you think is the reason for Phantom's popularity in India?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;">Ans.
Because, I think, the Phantom IS the original and natural superhero and also
came to India earlier than the others.<br />
The reason for my liking him is, he is a normal person like you and me, with
only more power in his muscles! He is quick to think and act which is not
abnormal, but a slight exaggeration!<br />
He can't fly; he can't do magic; he cannot vanish into thin air; he is just a
fellow human being, who is a little more powerful than us.<br />
If I can fly, or disappear into thin air, or swing on a thin wire from building
to building, I too can become a superhero! What is so great about it?!<br />
<br />
The simplicity and down-to-earth nature of the Phantom character must be the
cause for his popularity here, in India.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q7. How did you decide to get to draw the cover for the Phantom comics by Regal?<br />
Ans. Well, the Phantom cover was not the subject I discussed with them first!
It was something else, but comics related, of course.<br />
Then while chatting I sent them the Phantom illustration, I did for the
Australian bushfire relief book. Seeing that they wanted to try me for one of
their covers, and I did the first one. They were happy and asked for the second
cover also.<br />
<br />
Q8.Did you receive any guidelines from King Features to draw the cover?<br />
Ans. No. No guidelines from King Features.<br />
<br />
Q9. Were you able to read the stories before you drew the cover?<br />
Ans. Again, no.<br />
<br />
Q11.What has been the feedback so far on your cover art for the Phantom comic?<br />
Ans. Till now I have seen only positive comments for my work, except one which
said the costume colours were not right! But the pictures in the ads are not
the right colours.<br />
Also, the Phantom's costume comes in different colours in different countries!
I have seen purple, red and blue. But now a sculpture has come out in green
costume!<br />
<br />
Q.12 Would you like to do a complete Phantom story someday?<br />
Ans. That's my dream! Hope it will come true soon!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;">Note: The comics have been published by Regal Press based out of Kerala</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;">Visit our site - </span><a href="https://booksetcstore.com/" style="background-color: transparent;"><i>https://booksetcstore.com</i></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span face="" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></p>Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-72953719403469298412020-07-26T05:27:00.000-07:002020-07-26T05:27:33.776-07:00The Ghost Who Walks Returns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Phans all over India are celebrating the return of Phantom comics to India. Kerala based Regal publishers is scheduled to print a fresh set of Phantom stories in English starting in August 2020.<br />
Created by Lee Falk in 1936 (before Superman and Batman) Phantom is one of the longest running comic strips in the world and was hugely popular in India during the 70s & 80s when they were published by the Times of India group under the imprint Indrajal comics.<br />
But will today's generation take a liking to Phantom or will the readership be limited to the older fans? We decided to talk to the publisher, Jacob Vargheese to understand this and more about their decision to publish Phantom comics in 2020.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 1. Tell us something about your publishing house. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: Regal Publishers was established in 1976. Regal Publishers published various world famous comics such as Phantom, Mandrake, Steel-Claw, James Bond, Modesty Blaze etc., and also novels such as Tarzan and Phantom during the 1980s and 1990s, the language being Malayalam. Although, there occurred some gap after that, Regal Publishers again started publishing Tarzan novels from 2010 onwards followed by Phantom comics. During those times the comics were published either in black and white or in two colours. Keeping in mind the taste of the new generation, from March 2019 onwards, Regal Publishers launched both Phantom and Mandrake Malayalam comics in multi colour. We also published various study related books at various points of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 2. How did you think of printing Phantom comics?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: We are aware that Phantom is an evergreen hero and has always been in demand as per our experience in 1990s. Also, in Kerala the number of comic books were considerably reduced. So we decided to publish Phantom and Mandrake which will be a new experience to new generation to get out from the clutches of television, computer and other social media.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 3. When did you think of printing Phantom comics in English?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ans: When we launched Phantom and Mandrake in Malayalam in March 2019 and started marketing, we started getting </span>inquiries<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> on publishing the same in English not only from Kerala but from other states as well. We noticed another aspect - that parents want their children to read English comics not just for entertainment but for learning English as well. Hence, we have decided to try Phantom in English for the first time in our publishing history.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 4. How has been the response to the announcement of the Phantom comic in English?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: We have got reasonably good response from Phantom comic lovers who used to read Phantom comics during the 1970s and 1980s when they were children. Now it is time to see how the new generation responds to Phantom comics in English.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 5. How did you shortlist the stories for the launch?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: We had selected stories after 1996 for printing Phantom comics in Malyalam. Now for this launch we have decided to publish the stories what we have received from King Features in English.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 6. Are you a Phantom fan yourself?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: As we have been publishing Phantom comics since 1990s, I am a big fan of Phantom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 7. What are your plans for the future?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: At this juncture we are waiting for the feedback and responses from our readers regarding the Phantom comics in English. If we get sufficient support from the readers (both old customers and the new generation), we will go ahead with the publication of both Phantom comics in English.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 8. Can we expect Mandrake (another famous character created by Lee Falk) comics also in English soon?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: We are awaiting the feedback and responses of customers in this regard. If the customers support us by giving us more publicity and buying our comics, we will consider publishing Mandrake and any other comic characters in English.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 9. Tell us about the cover artist for the comics as the cover looks really attractive.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGEl_BdtuqxrFSJ9kevCdV-jSyT6t3ZtJa57ArfMPkog4M1Vva4iWQnnFBPFcwZfZJlRB_eDkuES-2IsYE90Hu3gxuorsB6m40fK04lUYLPkCx3PKxPnsAMQsnsgRb7-bHlI5N3zRxZ3HV/s1600/Phantom+regal+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="886" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGEl_BdtuqxrFSJ9kevCdV-jSyT6t3ZtJa57ArfMPkog4M1Vva4iWQnnFBPFcwZfZJlRB_eDkuES-2IsYE90Hu3gxuorsB6m40fK04lUYLPkCx3PKxPnsAMQsnsgRb7-bHlI5N3zRxZ3HV/s320/Phantom+regal+1.jpg" width="221" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: The cover artist for the first two Phantom comics in English is Vincent Moses Raja from Tamil Nadu. When we were in the process of deciding on the cover pages, he happened to contact us and we decided to have a try with his artistic skills. It has worked out. Many people have already appreciated his cover arts for the Phantom comics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q10. How are you going to distribute the comics?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ans: We will be mainly doing direct sales at this stage due to the Corona issue which has caused a lot of problems in supplying to bookstalls in various parts of India as they are unable to run their business without interruption. However, we are already in the process of having tie ups with some bookstalls and online sellers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Q 11. From which states in India has the response been good? </span></div>
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<span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ans: As of now we have got good responses from West Bengal, </span>Tamil Nadu<span style="font-size: 12pt;">, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (in addition to our own place, Kerala). We have also started getting more welcoming responses from Delhi and Karnataka. We hope that we will get more responses from the other states also in due course.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
Phantom was last published in India in 2010 by Euro books. His return after a gap of 10 years is most welcome. Phantom is still very popular in Scandinavian countries and Australia, and fans in India had no option but to either buy from abroad or re-circulate earlier publications (Indrajal, Egmont, Euro etc)<br />
Here's an opportunity to make a fresh beginning and hope a new readership develops around these new exciting stories to sustain the publication.<br />
<br />
<br />
You can contact Regal publishers directly (94810 52592) and book your copy. Dispatches should start in the first week of August.</div>
Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-37583340441447457842019-06-17T04:40:00.000-07:002019-06-17T04:40:13.142-07:00Patna Blues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kullo nafsin zaikatul maut<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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(Every
living being has to taste mortality)<o:p></o:p></div>
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The blues of Patna <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i>Patna Blues by Abdullah Khan, Juggernaut
2018</i>) come in various shades. Some are confessional, some on the verge of
morbidity and some are tainted with clichés. The book takes one through a city
in the grasp of a time which was very different from today. The time where 15
minutes of internet cost twenty rupees, and twenty rupees was a week’s travel
for a middle-class Patna boy. Class becomes one of the focal points of the book
and influences the protagonist’s every decision. The close nexus of class,
caste and religion governs almost every Indian’s behaviour and Arif’s family is
no stranger to this. The marriages are obstructed if the boy’s mother isn’t a
Pathan but not if he’s asking for heavy dowry. All problems are infused within
the everyday life. This is the most absorbing element of the book for many have
covered the lives of the middle-class strata, but most usually take refuge in
either showering pity or romanticising the problems, giving an otherworldliness
to this common world. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The lives of a Bihar police
officer, an IAS aspirant and a budding actor are complimented by the side roles
of daughters, mothers and grandmothers who are secondary opinion makers. All the
blessings that they earn are on account of their compliance. Even their biggest
problems are normalised to the extent that greedy in-laws and halted studies
are reduced to inevitable realities of these characters. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There are many stereotypes within
the narrative of the book which rear their head especially through the
protagonist’s opinions on women. They’re easily branded as shameless and
whorish and evaluated on lines of their physicality. Arif’s love for a married
lady starts off with cliched notions of long tresses, dimpled smiles and kohl
filled eyes. But, through the long periods of longings and reunions, he comes to
realise the practicality that his love lacks. It’s a passionate love which
keeps both of them hanging. “Nobody does a cost-benefit analysis before falling
in love.”, he tells himself early on. Yet the revaluation is inevitable towards
the end as he realises that matters of heart cannot be governed by the heart
alone.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRHSQzHRQoOqbP3LkJFMq3x3i1GYTNa6w75Yx1h8_h-olWUlJb3ZBwKZkI2YrfkrwjQpcZL4r5GJAHaFuO34BXBooemXjzYVqEU8UeQORlFyquQkbRM8J8G00S99OyecB-Di0QZGxtzl1/s1600/patnablues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRHSQzHRQoOqbP3LkJFMq3x3i1GYTNa6w75Yx1h8_h-olWUlJb3ZBwKZkI2YrfkrwjQpcZL4r5GJAHaFuO34BXBooemXjzYVqEU8UeQORlFyquQkbRM8J8G00S99OyecB-Di0QZGxtzl1/s320/patnablues.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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While their love runs along the
lines of Bollywood sequences, the conflict between desire and duty is portrayed
accurately at various points. There’s a continuous struggle to not surrender to
‘Nafs-e-Ammarah.’ Their belonging to different religions entails conflicts
which portray the religious division that lied, and continues to lie, at the
heart of Indians. This aspect is quite elaborated by depicting small instances
of communal disharmony to organised violent riots.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another major narrative within
the novel is of the protagonist’s brother who disappears during the police
arrests that occur after a chain of bomb blasts in Delhi. This marks the common
account of many Muslim youth in India – who are branded terrorists, become
victims of fake encounters and long battles in court. The helplessness of the
father son duo in the city, which loses their own flesh and blood, is bound to
fill one with intense empathy. The grief and pain that engulfs the entire
household is shown in all its incomprehensibility.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The book is a sincere account of
the human condition. The frailty of human life which is stuck in a limbo as it
loses a loved one in the most unexpected ways. Arif can’t help but witness his
father struggle to make ends meet and try to survive within a structure where
rearing dreams of a respectable career comes at the cost of being branded as an
idler. The anxiety that marks Arif’s existence through the continuous failed
attempts at becoming an IAS officer and seeing himself as a failed son and
brother is portrayed with an intense clarity. For this Patna boy, even ending
his own life is a privilege. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Patna Blues</i> depicts human condition as it exists in contemporary
North India. The India where streets were deserted to watch an over of Azhar vs
McGrath. Where protests and processions put everyday lives on halt. Where bribes
and recommendations are the basis of jobs. And where a young man’s idealism and
high morals lose to the harsh realities of tragic yet common experiences. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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- Asna Jamal <a href="https://booksetcstore.com/"> Visit our site </a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-51255042588236207312019-05-01T23:54:00.004-07:002019-05-02T00:09:51.703-07:00Book review: Love, Loss and Betrayal in Nineteenth - Century Delhi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Beneath
the modern metropolitan Delhi that stands today, lie the remains of a royal <i>Dehli</i>
which survived centuries. Rana Safvi, in her book, <i>City of my Heart</i>, digs
up and translates some fragments of an era which could be attributed as
magnanimous, more so, a golden period in the history of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the city and its surroundings. This book is an
account of love, loss, and betrayal in the nineteenth-century Delhi. Safvi
takes up four Urdu narratives to compile an English version which could have a broader
audience at its disposal. The four pieces of work differ from each other in their
tonality, yet a common royalty resonates among them, making this compilation a
complete work in itself. The chronicles are placed perfectly in order, starting
with descriptions of the Mughal lifestyle, proceeding with some first-hand
experiences, only to end in a royal downfall. The work of Safvi has a grand
narrative, retaining the essence of that period which speak throughout the
pages. It is a magnificent depiction of events which would almost deceive you
to believe it as fiction, yet it is reality- of the soul of a city that died in
the mutiny of 1857. The lineage of Mughals might still go on, but surely not
with the exact grandeur that it once exhibited. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
dilapidated sites of historic fascination that we witness today, bloomed with
life and vigour at one point, illustrating the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb. Safvi has
trapped this very spirit in her work, this originality and genuineness of
people and culture that prevailed. It is hard to believe the contrast that
Delhi has undergone in such a brief amount of time. The transition from <i>Delhi
</i>to <i>Dehli</i> is what Safvi throws light upon. The first part of this
book is a translation of ‘<i>Dilli ka Aakhri Deedar’</i> (The Last Glimpse of
Dilli) by <i>Syed Wazir Hasan Dehlvi</i>. This portion is a description of the
simplicity and ease of life which existed during the nineteenth-century Dilli.
There was a freshness in the aura which dispersed from the <i>Qila </i>to the
common folks. Work was divided well and people were content with their lives.
There was a respect for the leader rather than fear. Hasan Dehlvi also includes
an account of life during the Mughal era as narrated by <i>Nani Hajjan</i>, a
mughlani who lived in the Qila. She represents the few witnesses to have
survived the mutiny and recounts tales of yore. Her words have an undertone of
misogyny which could have been prevalent during those times. Thus, this part is
layered and twice distanced in narration, which travelled from Nani Hajjan’s
stories to Hasan Dehlvi’s writings, to be finally translated by Safvi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">‘Bazm-e-Aakhir’</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> (The Last Assembly), by <i>Munshi
Faizuddin</i> is the second narrative to be included by Rana Safvi. Faizuddin
spent a lot of time in the Qila as an attendant and was aware of the inner
workings of the court, hence he was in a unique position to write a tribute to
the Mughal court as it was. This is a chronological account of all the
festivals that were celebrated during the era. The timeline of all the
celebrations that were held is cited in detail. There are also depictions of
the routine that was followed by the Badshah and others. Portrayals of a royal
morning, afternoon, and night, with all the activities that revolved around
them finds its mention here. The delicacies that were served in the royal court
is also described greatly. The book places the Badshah as a religious man who
is a great follower of traditions. These rituals and customs which descended
down from the royal court can be traced in various Muslim households even today.</span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Mirza
Ahmad Salim ‘Arsh’ Taimuri’s ‘Qila-e-Mu’alla ki Jhalkiya’n’</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> (Glimpses of the Exalted Fort)
lines up next to find its place in this translation. Taimuri was himself a
descendent of the last Mughal Badshah, Bahadur Shah Zafar- born in the fifth
generation of his lineage. He was neither born nor brought up in Delhi and most
of the historical accounts he presents are based on hearsay. Taimuri is
grateful to his father Hazrat Labeeb who has recounted some unique events for
him to pen down. This part unfolds itself in the definitions and brief
descriptions of the royal court. Taimuri defines various customs that prevailed
then, right from the food eaten to the punishment served. This part is further
divided into eight sub-units, each dealing with a different aspect of life, to
document the twilight years of the Mughal era. Taimuri includes small <i>qissas</i>
(stories) of notable people which he felt were worth mentioning. The account
also lists the names of sons and daughters of the Badshah and the fate they
served. Thus, he establishes a lineage which was soon to be forgotten. It is in
this part of <i>City of my Heart</i> where the Britishers intervene. In a very
brief course of events, Taimuri describes the mutiny of 1857, the exile of
Bahadur Shah Zafar, and the extinguishment of the Mughal dynasty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">City of my Heart’s</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> final narrative is <i>‘Begamat
ke Aansu’</i> (Tears of the Begums) by <i>Khwaja Hasan Nizami</i>. There could
not be a more perfect ending to this compilation than this heart-wrenching
account by the princess called Sultan Bano. This chronicle plucks the chords of
our emotions to reveal the tragic story of a royalty in decline. It depicts the
Mughals after the mutiny of 1857. The Mughal rulers who in a twist of fate were
forced to turn into royal beggars- royal, since the aristocratic air of theirs
would not perish even in such times of despair. This portion of the book
depicts a strange irony that is life. It places you high on top only to make
your downfall greater. The book has accounts of various descendants of the
emperor, who would not even think in their wildest of dreams of such a decline.
From velvet cushions to thatched beds, the lineage of the Badshah witnessed a
full swing of highs and lows. It vividly documents stories of various princes
and princesses after the fall of the empire. Their fate toppled over and what
was left behind were just nostalgic reminiscences of a glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In four
volumes of narratives, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">City of my Heart</i>
captures nineteenth-century Delhi in its fullest. Rana Safvi has very
particularly selected, placed, and translated these works to present a correct
picture of that time. It depicts the rich cultural, social, and political milieu
which is often defamed by historians. On a metaphorical level, the book is a
reminder of the transient nature of life which spares none.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">~ Nawa
Fatima<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Author: Rana Safvi (Translator) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Publisher: Hatchette India<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Year : October 2018 <o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://booksetcstore.com/">https://booksetcstore.com</a></div>
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-40632136452311322532019-04-18T08:27:00.001-07:002019-04-18T08:27:31.603-07:00Proud to be a Librocubicularist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">“Are you a librocubicularist?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">“Err… What?” I mumbled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">“A librocubicularist.” She said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Still with that baffled look and sleepy eyes, I gaped at my friend. Last
night, she had come over to my place to stay. While she was about to leave in
the morning, she came to bid me goodbye, and as she entered my room, she smiled
and pointed at piles of books around me, one of the books laying turned open on
my chest. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">“A… what?” I asked again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">She answered, and that’s when I came to know that people who had ‘the
habit of reading in bed’ had a term to themselves. It’s a pity I didn’t know
about it till then, perhaps because it hasn’t been officially included in a
dictionary yet. But even the thought of such a word actually existing in
English language super excites me. Thanks to internet, now I can even expand my
imagination to actually have a cosy bed built with lots and lots of books
stacked in shelves at one of its corners, for there is nothing undeniably
pleasurable than seeking refuge into the world of redolent yellow pages and
immersing in a realm beyond those words inked on them. Curled up in a blanket
beside a lamp on a wintery night with a huge mug of hot coffee resting on the
side table, believe me, there’s nothing better than reading your favourite
thriller for hours together amidst this setting.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxyECmn-YOl3GkhjRiys_DeG21n6n3mON2qsm5qXxVA2iY4-nfkqzswXPOloe1ZW3C1pY0P0ZBVXZ8sqjBnAvu_4Qg0gcwvgwNluaM6LAkP8D_OxSEB45LTB7e-p09b_TjbXuQ4h4DUnt_/s1600/MU000006A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="548" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxyECmn-YOl3GkhjRiys_DeG21n6n3mON2qsm5qXxVA2iY4-nfkqzswXPOloe1ZW3C1pY0P0ZBVXZ8sqjBnAvu_4Qg0gcwvgwNluaM6LAkP8D_OxSEB45LTB7e-p09b_TjbXuQ4h4DUnt_/s200/MU000006A.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">So, before I added this word to my vocabulary, I thought of surfing a
bit about this on the internet. It turned out the term ‘librocubicularist’ has
been made up of two words in Latin: ‘liber’ meaning book and ‘cubiculum’ meaning
chamber meant for sleeping. The word was used for the first time almost a
century ago by Christopher Morley in his ‘Haunted Bookshop’; it’s a pity that despite
being so relevant and relatable, this term is still striving to find its place
in the pages of a Merriam-Webster and Collins.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeYllddTyg_7XciezSs1xziTUywYYpA_kFvzKVbgxU5nT4NGpucLRT8_PZ-xcxxKd4YO9W4XGJMfC1z5gvWgNtXL-SvCqG1v8qgS2-YvjXP_gWtR2nAdpF8sNp_lif18DfA4jZ0Z8GCq7/s1600/MU000006B+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="548" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeYllddTyg_7XciezSs1xziTUywYYpA_kFvzKVbgxU5nT4NGpucLRT8_PZ-xcxxKd4YO9W4XGJMfC1z5gvWgNtXL-SvCqG1v8qgS2-YvjXP_gWtR2nAdpF8sNp_lif18DfA4jZ0Z8GCq7/s200/MU000006B+.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">It is said, one should start cultivating reading habits in children at a
very young age and I think there can be no better way to do so than making it a
habit to read story books to the children at bedtime. This can be one of the
ways for the parents and even elder siblings to spend quality time with the young
ones and strengthen the bond between them. This would even give the children
some amazing bedtime memories to hold on to that they would cherish when they
grow up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">In today’s era, it has become difficult for individuals to take out time
from their busy schedules and find that mental space to sit back and read, due
to which reading time has been shrunk to bed time, and often they devote themselves
to reading during weekends and holidays. Nevertheless, the happiness and thrill
that one gets to experience from bedtime reading is unmatched. I’d rather like
to have my dreams around the characters of those novels I have recently read
than to have actual human beings pester into my dreams and turning them into
nightmares. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">So, if you are a bedtime reader too, then be proud to be called a
librocubicularist! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-940868727293927412019-04-02T00:43:00.000-07:002019-04-02T00:43:40.910-07:00Empathy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">“English
Majors!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Oh
that would be so easy!! You can literally write anything you feel like and get
marks…….”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Well
that's a major statement we, students of English Literature get to hear but we
try to defend ourselves with the argument that Literature certainly broadens
our vision. It enhances our sensibility and sensitivity. Literature allows us
to live in worlds which perhaps cannot exist elsewhere, giving us the
opportunity of understanding different roles, different people and their
personalities and experiences. Most importantly, literature helps in knowing
other people's perspectives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">This
being put in simpler terms. Harper Lee penned down as “You never understand a
person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into
his skin and walk around in it” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To
Kill a Mockingbird</i>. A southern Gothic novel with its own elements of
archetypes and double consciousness, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To
Kill a Mockingbird</i> puts a strong message through Atticus, not just for his
daughter, Scout, but for all of us. Scout is taught to try seeing other
people's lives through their eyes. Scout struggles, with varying degrees of
success, to put Atticus's advice into practice and to live with sympathy and
understanding towards others. She is thus able to comprehend Boo Radley's
perspective, who is further more a disturbed character to interpret .</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTuaCa2CUiwDbULHLF_6mbfcoUlCyls4WUmdOTQ08s-nu9-kIi_lTSk2v_iPrO0K4uKy1_2OzVaQsRrtVNHNyP_zmlOLVnjU5WbWDJ3UQVCw5knDkaHTa6k6qN2AFqd7-7Ry574Oh1zvyv/s1600/6%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="770" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTuaCa2CUiwDbULHLF_6mbfcoUlCyls4WUmdOTQ08s-nu9-kIi_lTSk2v_iPrO0K4uKy1_2OzVaQsRrtVNHNyP_zmlOLVnjU5WbWDJ3UQVCw5knDkaHTa6k6qN2AFqd7-7Ry574Oh1zvyv/s200/6%25283%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The quote isn't as simple as it appears to be
in saying, when put into practice, it is certainly not easy to be first
adopting someone else's shoes and then being comfortable in his skin.
Experience certainly is the best teacher. But given, we cannot experience
almost everything, what's probably best is a closer look at those situations,
placing yourself in those critical moments and learning to believe in your
actions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">It's
easier to make comments when you are on the other side of picture, when you are
at the far end but suddenly the very actions, you previously found stupid and
idiotic, totally turn out to be justified when you put on the shoes of the
character in the picture. Certainly this must not be mistaken for defending a
particular side. It's simply considering things from a broader vision; for what
use is our humanity, if we fail to absorb others’ dilemma and complexities.
Besides, it is the lack of this experience that we fall prey to victimhood of
oppression and negative criticism. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">How
humane and beautiful it is when you are able to recognize a person as not a
terrifying other, who is at fault but a victim of his own circumstances, when
you seem to understand the person's internal conflict and actually know what it
feels like to be in his position and then, probably you tend to know the reason
behind his actions. This actually, allows us to gain insights into the person's
life closely, rather than passing judgments by analyzing just one side of the
story. This feeling of empathy and sensitivity towards others is the strongest
weapon of humanity. Being sympathetic towards others, respecting their
emotions, experiences and most importantly their personal interests and
choices, people then begin to register each other with basic humility and
kindness instead of challenging their set of decisions and actions; for the
real fact that we do not know what a person is going through unless and until
we share the experiences by living that catastrophic life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Also
this approach helps us to understand the person's motives and get along with
him/her in a better way. Distancing oneself from habitual point of view and
glancing inside other person's mind is the trick to reason out his behavioral
action. It even serves as a means to predict the person's future actions and
what can be expected of them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">It
requires courage to try and put on the shoes of others, to try to walk around
in their skin. It's difficult but important to listen to other people's voices
across all sorts of barriers. However, it's easier said than done. It isn't
that complicated, stepping into another person's shoes, imagining how they
feel, and actually feeling it. Yet role - playing is a great activity to earn
our long lost empathy. So let's play and tell - and feel and listen. That
probably is the biggest heroic act when we are successful in seeking and
finding the essential humanity of others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Nida
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-36655390266725175582019-03-18T22:12:00.000-07:002019-03-18T22:12:13.205-07:00Reading is My Super Power<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">There can be nothing as enthralling as curling up with
a book on a corner of your room for hours together munching hot pakoras. However,
if you are still busy with your phones and play stations playing video games or
spending your time switching between channels on the television, it must be
because the reading bug hasn’t bitten you yet. Since childhood, the best way that
I could find to get rid of my boredom and to make use of my precious time was
by reading books, since it has been the ultimate source of my happiness till
date. Reading Is My Super Power. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="1571" data-original-width="1600" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkdC8QNXKHK1svMl9rmp9s5RQl17AREglJtfuoSgB5kM8l9zjDZMjWMjHgI4V7QusJws6SauHplqKhlvFZHEBjKjudva3SYlJF3PYKRgb5fuQq6VIuR8uiccQa2YBJTlctGl70NSMuVEx/s200/9+%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Sitting within the confines of my room, reading can make
it possible for me to travel through moors and mountains, across seas and
oceans, and even to the world beyond through wonderful narratives, poems and
stories.</span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Sir Francis Bacon, a prominent thinker of English
Renaissance in his well –known essay ‘Of Studies’ wittily suggests, “Some books
are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and
digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read,
but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and
attention.” Books come in all shapes and types. There are wide range of genres
of books that you can choose from–thrillers, science fiction, non-fiction,
adventure, classics, drama, anthology of poems, biographies, autobiographies,
short stories, children’s literature and the list can go on and on. Even if the
idea of picking up a book scares you to the core, you can always pick up
magazines, newspaper articles and even comics, but one must never refrain from
the habit of reading. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The ultimate aim of reading must not be to aggressively rebut
other’s opinions or accept any writer’s ideas without questioning; rather one
must read to enable oneself to absorb, question, analyze and engage <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with those views rationally rather than tumbling
oneself unreasonably into arguments.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZGFM_VSQ1mGgqNCR9yCqfjpCHdet1aY0LUiY4wWap0tTC0mdQBYwAaO1OE8ebVSIoqdLi1UaKAy7LzD8QRjvIM6Baz_HI73P0nTF6HvQpiPOv39jsWxQMHcgj7lu_ML4Iq6NyTo_KmHD/s1600/TB000004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="818" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZGFM_VSQ1mGgqNCR9yCqfjpCHdet1aY0LUiY4wWap0tTC0mdQBYwAaO1OE8ebVSIoqdLi1UaKAy7LzD8QRjvIM6Baz_HI73P0nTF6HvQpiPOv39jsWxQMHcgj7lu_ML4Iq6NyTo_KmHD/s320/TB000004.jpg" width="174" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Roald Dahl, the most loved author of children’s books,
has rightly said, “If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a
lot of books.” It’s not just the knowledge that reading instils within you that
would ensure you success in life, but reading even helps you to avoid socially
awkward situations and boosts up your confidence manifold so that you can
participate in discussions that might pop up out of nowhere in such social gatherings.
Reading has always remained my super power since apart from knowledge, reading
has inculcated confidence within me, has given me that strength to tackle
real-life situations that otherwise I might have faced it difficult to tackle, and
has developed me into a more creative and innovative individual. Reading can
help one to widen one’s horizons, improve vocabulary, language, imagination and
thought-process. One can never deny the fact that a well-read person never
fails to impress!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Today, reading books no longer mean rushing to the
library and borrowing them or burning a hole in the pocket. If one considers it
convenient, one can access or download several books online through websites.
However, it’s true that the e-books can never match the smell of yellow
redolent pages of the dust jacketed books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Once you finish up reading a book, get ready to
discuss it with your peers, friends, acquaintances and loved ones. Discussing
the books with others actually fills you with a unique kind of elation. It is
the exchange of ideas, opinions and anecdotes that can actually encourage you
to even cook up your own tales. You can only improve upon your writing skills
through the habit of reading and who knows someone might get impressed by your
writing style and you might end up getting signed for a big contract or a
writing project! Books are indeed uniquely portable magic, and I believe
there’s almost nothing books can’t do. Indeed, reading builds a powerful mind
and an influential personality. One must never forget what Sir Bacon said, “Reading
maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. Reading
adds perfection to a man’s personality.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">- Saloni Gaba</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"> <a href="https://booksetcstore.com/"> Visit our site</a></span></div>
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-27575080891271044512019-03-02T01:00:00.002-08:002019-03-02T01:02:13.994-08:00Majaz: Kuchh mujhe bhi kharab hona tha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When the pendulum of
experience stretches so far as to sway on the extremities of emotions, it is
then that a writer is born. Amidst the turbulent struggle for Indian independence,
literature seemingly ceased the opportunity to rage a revolution of words which
would encapsulate the mutual sentiment of millions. The late nineteenth and
early twentieth century witnessed a particular bloom of revolutionary writings and
a major spot among it is captured by the <i>nazms, ghazals</i>, and the
satirical <i>sher-0-shairi</i> that the poets of Urdu literature weaved during
the period. A great many names resurface when we leaf through the pages of history
and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Makhdoom, Jazbi, Ali Sardar Jafri, Fani Badayuni, Majaz Lakhnawi,
etc. are to name only a few. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Majaz Lakhnawi was born as
Asrar ul Haq Majaz (19 October, 1911) in Rudauli, Faizabad, in the state of
Uttar Pradesh, India. He received his early education in Lucknow, and at St.
John’s college, Agra; but it was Aligarh Muslim University which earned Majaz
his bachelor’s degree. Regarded as the ‘Keats’ of Urdu poetry, Majaz began
composing his verses while in Aligarh. He is credited for composing the “Nazr-e-Aligarh”
or <i>tarana</i> (anthem) for Aligarh Muslim University- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">‘Ye
mera chaman, hai mera chaman,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Main
apne chaman ka bulbul hun’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Post his graduation from
Aligarh Muslim University, Majaz was offered a position as an assistant editor
of <i>Aawaz</i>, the newly-established journal of the All India Radio. This
shift from Aligarh to Delhi was a major change in the life of our poet. Aligarh
gave Majaz an identity and space to grow and produce his work. He was in a
place that gave him utmost respect and the young minds of universities relied
upon him to voice their heart. This transference was a new path on which Majaz had
to tread. His elegance of writing Urdu poetry became apparent when he
befriended two poets, Fani Baduyani (whom he considered his mentor), and Jazbi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A poet with an exemplary imagination,
Majaz was dragged to realistic and revolutionary writing by the epoch he lived
in. While reading Majaz, one can easily trace the balance that he strived to
maintain between imagination and realism. A young poet of his time, he struck
the chords of romance and revolution alike in the hearts of youth. The years in
which he lived and wrote were pulsating with the spirit of nationalism.
Apparent changes were witnessed in various spheres- political, social, as well
as literary. The need of the hour demanded revolution and poets like Majaz and
his contemporaries diverted their ink towards this rebellion. It was during
this time that Majaz was magnetized towards the <i>Taraqqi Pasand Tahreek</i>
(Progressive Writers’ Movement) and started blending his imagination with a touch
of progression to fabricate works that are still irreplaceable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">‘Tere
mathe pe ye anchal to bahut hi khub hai lekin<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Tu
is anchal se ik parcham bana leti to acha hota’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">An astonishing feature
that distinguished Majaz from his contemporaries was his striking memory.
Certain chronicles based on his life claim that Majaz rarely inscribed his
lines down. He was known for modifying his verses as and when he wished. Some
famous works like <i>Aahang</i> faced this issue of alteration which was mostly
carried out by Majaz himself, but at times by the publishers or composers. Thus,
with this three-fold amendment, various editions of<i> Aahang</i> were
published, each distinct from one another. This was a major criticism faced by
the poet but this criticism again, rebounded in his favour to popularize him
exponentially. At such a young age, Majaz was desired by publishers all over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Majaz, whose popularity
was at its zenith, could not escape the pangs of love and eventually lost his
heart to a married woman in Delhi who happened to be his admirer. This love was
unrequited and drew him into a hopelessness which he was unable to evade. The
chaos which shrouded his love was unveiled through the couplets that ring of
passion. There was a shadow of despair which flickered in his work. He wrote
extensively about beauty, longing, love, and romance during this phase of his
life. One of his most famous <i>nazms</i> written during this time was titled-<i>
“Husn ko be-hijaab hona tha”; </i>a couplet of which still resonates within the
hearts of lovers-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Kuchh
tumhari nigah kafir thi<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Kuchh
mujhe bhi kharab hona tha”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When critics think of
Majaz in relation to his peers, they fall upon the conclusion that his poetic style
was distinct and adorned with simplicity. He could be considered an old soul in
terms of his usage of rhymes and meters in poetry, like the poets of older
generation. His minimal experimentation places his poetry as melodious and
effortless. While his contemporaries engaged in varying degrees of experiments
with their work, (Faiz deployed classical metaphors to derive a sense of
revolution, Firaq brought themes from Sanskrit poetry to Urdu, Noon Meem Rashed
wrote about the mental anguish of colonized people, etc.), Majaz embraced his
art of subtle, delicate themes; endowing us with some graceful works. He rained
emotions in various tones to drench his readers with a multiplicity of feelings.
His artistry and an effortless style had the power to envelope emotional states
of mind which words usually fail to illustrate. A melancholy and poignancy
which he inscribed through his ink produced his distinctive work, <i>Aahang. </i>This
was his first <i>diwan</i>, dedicated to Faiz and Jazbi whom he calls his
“dil-o-jigar”, and to Sardar Jafri and Makhdoom, who are “mere dast-o-bazu”.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Majaz’s unique style
embodies the ease with which he swings between the echoes of nationalism and
the subliminal desires of a lover. This fusion is astounding and reflects in
the works of Majaz which includes- Aawara, Aahang, Shab-e-taab, Saaz-e-Nau,
etc. Though Majaz reached the acme of his career at a young age, he suffered
anxious breakdowns. Alcoholism ate him up from within, eventually leading to
his end. Majaz died at a young age of 44 years in the winter of 1955 and left
behind him mysteries and a pile of unanswered questions. But his mastery over
emotions and an amalgamation of romance and revolution placed him on a pedestal
which is unforgettable. In his relatively brief poetic career, he composed
poems that still reverberate in the Urdu literary sphere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></div>
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<!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">- <b>Nawa Fatima </b> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> <a href="https://booksetcstore.com/">Visit our site </a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-22064464525878097812019-02-17T06:11:00.000-08:002019-02-17T06:14:10.975-08:00“Books are the mirror of the soul”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">There are few things in life which can tell
one about oneself as convincingly as books, if only one knows how to read
correctly. When I read a book, I read more than the letters and the plots, I
read a lot more about me. As I read, the words come together and form a
narrative closely linked with the reality I was wishing to escape from or
trying to grasp a clearer hold of. My apprehensions about my career, my fear of
ending up doing nothing of value joins some hostess’s anxiety of being reduced
to an organiser of an evening full of futile entertainment. Maybe she wanted to
be more than a hostess, maybe she chose the flowers herself because that’s the
only thing she can seek appreciation through. She wants to be more than that
but how could she ever be, so she’ll be the best in what she can be. This is my
review of a book I liked more than I understood. But my </span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Mrs Dalloway</i><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"> is so different from the next reader that I should
doubt my understanding. And I would. Had I not understood that what I see is
what I wish to see. Woolf could’ve whispered in my ear that Dalloway can never
be touched by my everyday anxieties and I still wouldn’t separate them. Because
what’s a character that cannot tell me what I am and what I’m not? And what’s a
book that doesn’t show me myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But
do books show or tell? Or maybe Woolf is right in that books reflect, somewhat
like mirrors. Mirrors are some of the most fascinating things for a child. The
first sight of their own reflection is an absurd image because it moves with
them, its eyes seem to be staring into the soul. The realisation slowly sets in
that this image isn’t a trick of the mind but our own self. And we finally
perceive what we are and how we’re seen by everyone around but us. This must be
the strangest power an entity can hold – making us see our own possession. I
believe books hold the same power. Like a fascinated child, we explore the
lines and look for things to make sense of the absurdity someone once wrote
down. Authors and their intentions stop holding meaning beyond an extent as
these carefully constructed worlds are handed off to a reader who comes in
either with naïve notions or high headed expectations. For people like me,
reading books is usually a scavenger hunt because we locate the pieces that can
fit together for our strangely preconceived interpretations to fall into place.
I wonder how I know how to create this coherent meaning suitable to my
worldview. Maybe Woolf is again right in pointing that the origin and source of
these interpretations lie within one’s soul. Where else would that empathy come
from which I felt for Lawrence’s Mrs Morel even when she suffocated her son
with adulation. The never-ending battle between mother and son was inevitable
but had no wrong sides for me. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sons and
Lovers</i>, for me, became the first book which showed humanity in its rawness.
All characters were shades of grey and understandably so. For someone who
resists absolutes and binaries with all their might, complexity is the ultimate
refuge and books about Dalloways and Morels offer me just that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://booksetcstore.com/products/virginia-woolf-literary-scroll"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="770" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxSQIuSiOhY2R8QZcreC4uWrYZRrbG_7Df9_S4Rd6V2-u-xaIXD1IEgbr54myLHmtUraDcc3pneorVBqOtNHVUI0LOZrn9Y_WBV0jlzuSyp-_XiwG6cxTYAD0rYh5eph2t5CbnpjHjm8t/s320/3%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But
if books reflect then reflections are never perceived in the same way by two
people. You may look at your face in the mirror and get fixated on that spot of
skin which is still blotched from that time when you had carelessly popped the
zits on your face. While your mother could stand behind you, look at the same
reflection and see a child who grew up too soon to start worrying about zits.
Books too are subject to similar inconsistencies of perception. There are times
you can’t make yourself see what others are seeing, making you a part of
unpopular opinion holders. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Kite
Runner</i> was a similar experience for me. I didn’t appreciate the book as
intensely as those who suggested it to me. The book ended up teaching me that
I’m a stickler for rawness and authenticity. The series of coincidences kept
reminding me about the impracticality of the situations and prevented the book
from becoming a favourite as I’d hoped it would be.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Just
as one’s mirror image is flipped yet rooted in reality, I realise that this
matter of the soul cannot always be beyond the expectations of one’s realism.
But the soul isn’t ruled by the mind alone, the heart is equally compelling.
And this is why books seem to exist in a plane where the yardsticks of realistic
and unrealistic lose conventional meaning. Whatever hits home is realistic and
whatever doesn’t fit into one’s pursuit of pleasure from reading is rejected.
Books are the mirrors that reflect our souls both explicitly and from between
the lines. The latter is deemed difficult, but what eludes us the most is
reading what lies at the forefront. But once we learn to grasp the reflections
from those pages, we end up with a knowledge which is at times inconceivable but
always invaluable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> - Asna
Jamal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> <a href="https://booksetcstore.com/">Visit our store</a></span></div>
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-73037237782158098142019-02-03T05:33:00.002-08:002019-02-04T05:11:59.422-08:00Let yourself be silently drawn by the strongest pull of what you really love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">If
one was to ask an academician, Maulana <span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;">Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>was<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>the master of Love</span>.
However, for most people, Rumi was a mystic Sufi saint, whose lyricism and scholarly
abilities have nurtured the future of thousand poets and artists in modern age.
Rumi had always been a great scholar, teaching law and theology to his
students.<span style="color: black;"> </span>Being an erudite, his eloquence
attracted many disciples, despite the fact that he was still in his early
twenties. But the appearance of Shams transformed him into a devotee of music,
dance and poetry. Albeit with his disappearance for the first time, Rumi
immortalized Shams by celebrating him in his poetry as the embodiment of the
divine beloved. History has it when Rumi and Shams met again, they fell at each
other’s feet, not knowing who the lover was and who the beloved. Rumi named an
entire collection of his odes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Works
of Shams of Tabriz</i>. Strangely, apart from researchers, little is known to
the world of his lover, his companion in mysticism, his beloved disciple, Shams
ad-Din of Tabriz. Some even wonder if he had been a real person, at all.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Shams,
which literally translates to ‘the sun’, was a wandering dervish. A fireball,
who had a remarkable curiosity and was a keen observer. Calling himself an
interpreter of dreams, Shams had always known about his innate difference
between himself and the rest of the world. He once asked his father to go back
to his coop, if he wasn’t an ocean like him. Shocked at Shams behavior, his
father was worried about his survival in the world. Little did he know that his
son was anything but ordinary. Shams repeatedly claimed that he never had
dream, instead he just had visions. These very visions were the beginning of
his search for love and companionship. To him, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a good man was one thing, a lover something else</i>’.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUL-jFkyUPh6UOhBHjpmsEIA-BfuiHz30jAxLwnuNIlx7PLNJtfzv4yQkzgRbg6uDfzNgx8IQHiioeOy4255j8ri4bpX5uQUunEmpBTGyRlhIRHASqAM-x6JLd3wW6gM3weEom0z3Kpgmq/s1600/combo_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1335" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUL-jFkyUPh6UOhBHjpmsEIA-BfuiHz30jAxLwnuNIlx7PLNJtfzv4yQkzgRbg6uDfzNgx8IQHiioeOy4255j8ri4bpX5uQUunEmpBTGyRlhIRHASqAM-x6JLd3wW6gM3weEom0z3Kpgmq/s200/combo_1.jpg" width="166" /></a></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Long
before Shams of Tabriz met the glorious Rumi, he was aware of his revered
existence. Uncanny as it may seem, the search for his venerated companion made
the dervish travel across the entire Middle-East, when he finally met Rumi, in
Konya, to devour the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sherbet</i> of
knowledge and to fill the void that had left his life incomplete. Such was his
devotion that he was ready to sacrifice his head in return of the love that he
was to receive. As for Rumi, Shams became a part of his dream. His longing grew
stronger with each passing day. The finality of their meeting was that they
were inseparable. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sohbet (c</i>onversation)
between Shams and Rumi were endless, leading to the inevitable envy amidst
their other loved ones. Their illuminating oneness is still a mystery to
millions. They let themselves be drawn to each other, which paved the way for
the most beautiful poems in the history of poetry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">“The minute I
heard my first love story<br />
I started looking for you, not knowing<br />
how blind that was.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Lovers don’t
finally meet somewhere.<br />
They’re in each other all along.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Interestingly,
Huston Smith goes as far to compare Dante and Beatrice to Rumi
and Shams. One might always wonder, why Rumi loved or was affectionate
towards Shams to such an extent, that he paid no heed to anyone else. Perhaps,
the answer is intertwined between the memories of those who claim, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it always takes but a lover to find his
beloved.</i> It was Rumi’s eyes which found the spiritual magnificence in
Shams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">For
us millennials, perhaps the most difficult theory still remains. What really is
love? <br />
Is it as easy as what Shahrukh Khan narrates in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kuch Kuch Hota Hai</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pyar dosti hai</i>. Love is friendship. Some
of us would surely cringe on that dialogue, and others perhaps would drool over
its romance. Maybe we share secrets, ice-creams and coffee, trying to decipher
love in letters written over WhatsApp statuses.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZgcV-8vTZx9HVNGDPwjUma9B9OxGzjTLhYsZgLNd4OZlwH7NR-fBMAW8MOj_DFWf227TWfy6Z19MZfMYenF4G1dIgJdiL8jbuOpRLk8jSndFZBZ445MkufZPg25UlJd-clnU-1thr1ci/s1600/rsz_mu000053_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="580" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZgcV-8vTZx9HVNGDPwjUma9B9OxGzjTLhYsZgLNd4OZlwH7NR-fBMAW8MOj_DFWf227TWfy6Z19MZfMYenF4G1dIgJdiL8jbuOpRLk8jSndFZBZ445MkufZPg25UlJd-clnU-1thr1ci/s200/rsz_mu000053_1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><br />
Or is Love as unconventional, complex and philosophical as we read through in
Rumi’s quotes? Metaphysical, if one may call it. If we are to dive deep into
them, we would find ourselves lost in the unnerving ocean of words and their
countless meanings. The silence of love has been a matter of discussion between
great scholars since time immemorial. Silence too is deafening, when there is a
storm of separation between lovers, and perhaps the last conversation they ever
share is through the silence of their brimming eyes. Rumi talks of this silence
when lovers are drawn into union of love.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFiF8CnzjjB12-rhToiQ41HN43qN7KbzluvQeOM9UzYK_0OCyPtX7ltXzrVkPqPC91FO-qo8MUD02iMCytc5vQ2XuvBP6zjzAiywpAR6Oe_m8G4bBrG8aDMDaAM-7o4H5-Yg_gkA-m6bU/s1600/rsz_mu000053_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="580" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFiF8CnzjjB12-rhToiQ41HN43qN7KbzluvQeOM9UzYK_0OCyPtX7ltXzrVkPqPC91FO-qo8MUD02iMCytc5vQ2XuvBP6zjzAiywpAR6Oe_m8G4bBrG8aDMDaAM-7o4H5-Yg_gkA-m6bU/s200/rsz_mu000053_2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">As
for my part, to define something I am drawn to because of love, only reminds me
of my father. The minute little things that he does make me feel the most
cherished. Something as mundane as cutting nails becomes precious, if it is
Baba who does it. His stories of struggle in Leh, Madras, Gujarat can keep me
glued to him for eternity. I think, rice, dal and mashed potatoes are the
tastiest if he feeds me. You may call it a stereotypical father-daughter
emotional connect. Nevertheless, it is the stereotype I most admire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">To
define the ‘pull of love’ in vaguely literal terms, can just bind it to
shackles of chains, I believe. True essence of it, is rather subjective to each
human. Let us then reminisce Rumi’s words, “Love is the religion and the
universe is the book.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_gjdgxs"></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">- By Lipi Bag <a href="https://booksetcstore.com/search?q=rumi">Order Rumi merchandise </a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-22466427066417847012019-01-22T20:58:00.002-08:002019-02-04T05:24:11.036-08:00Reminiscing Faiz: Aap Ki Yaad Aati Rahi Raat Bhar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">When the times are
dark and the realities get delusional, no other art form but poetry can soothe
our disquiet and arouse us to our complacency. Amongst all other languages and
literature, Urdu language and Urdu poetry holds a unique place in everyone’s
heart and one can never imagine having a complete understanding of contemporary
Urdu poetry without recognizing the significance of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s varied
oeuvre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Born on February
13, 1911 in village Kala Qadir, Sialkot, that is now a part of Pakistan, Faiz
began his poetic career in the 1930s during British imperialism in India. No
later than that he became an iconic voice of a generation. He was one such poet
whose revolutionary verses denounced tyranny and strove for justice. He used
his melancholic yet musical lines to weave tender strands of hope and promise
amongst the youth in those turbulent times. Faiz was also remarkably known for
his coruscating and soulful love poems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">By the beginning of
the 1930s, the Anti-British sentiment and desire for national freedom was at
its peak, several anti-imperialistic and left-oriented groups mushroomed with
the intention to inspire writings that advocated for an egalitarian society and
stood up against injustice and backwardness. Faiz also became a member of the
Progressive Writers’ Movement. Communalism had been sparked off between the
Hindu and Muslim communities of pre-partition India and Faiz, a poet merely in
his twenties then, got upset due to the political circumstances and he was
triggered to write against these forces of communalism and confront the
colonial presence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">In those times of
oppressive socio-political structure, the Progressive Writers’ Movement was
driven by Marxist ideology. The movement was founded in 1935 in London and had
some famous idealists as its members- Sajjad Zaheer, Rashid Jahan, Kaifi Azmi,
Ismat Chughtai, Ahmed Faraz, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Manto, Mulk Raj Anand, Makhdoom
Mohiuddin and Faiz himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Faiz’s first
collection of poetry got published in the year 1941 by the name of ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Naqsh –e- Fariyaadi’</i> (The Image of
Complaint). It had significant poems that arouse every emotion in the readers’
hearts – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mujhse Pehli Si Mohabbat Meri
Mehboob Na Maang</i> (Beloved, Don’t Ask Me for the Love That Was), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tanhaai </i>(Solitude), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bol</i> (Speak) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iqbal </i>(Iqbal)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tanhaai
</i>and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Bol </i>have been ranked high
among literary critics. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iqbal</i> had
been written by Faiz in his memory where he called his fellow writer Iqbal ‘khush-nawa
fakir’ (a sweet-singing fakir).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">In 1947, Faiz
became the editor of two dailies in Lahore - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Pakistan Times</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Imroz</i>. He also became the Vice President of Trade Union Congress in 1951 and
was sent to San Francisco and Geneva during this time as a part of Pakistani
Government’s delegation to the International Labour Organization. While
everything seemed to be working quite well for him, Faiz got arrested in
connection with the Rawalpindi conspiracy case. But getting behind the bars
couldn’t cage his stream of thoughts and emotions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Faiz published his
second collection in 1952 by the name of ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dast-e-Saba’</i>
(The Touch of the Breeze). Several poems were included in this collection – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Subh-e-Azaadi</i> (Dawn of the Freedom), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sheeshon ke Maseeha Koi Nahin</i> (The
Heart’s Wine Glass, Once Broken, Cannot be Repaired) and others. The first poem
of this collection, when he was denied the tools to write his poetry in prison,
shows his undeterred optimism and protest against tyranny. With the Independence
and Partition of India, tumultuous circumstances engulfed the subcontinent,
mass migration and terrible massacres followed. It was then, Faiz wrote one of
his greatest poems <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Subh-e-Azaadi</i>
(Dawn of the Freedom) that expresses deep sense of grief for the ways things
had turned out. This poem is known for its ambiguous use of metaphors and
context that it tries to portray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">By 1953, Faiz was
transferred to Hyderabad jail and was released in April 1955 on bail, and then
acquitted in September the same year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">The third
collection of poetry by Faiz, published in 1956 by the name of ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zindaan-Nama’</i> (Prison Narrative) had
poems like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ay Raushniyon ke Shahr</i> (O
City of Lights!) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koi Aashiq Kisi
Mehbooba Se</i> (A Lover to a Beloved).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">Faiz was again
imprisoned for a short time during Ayyub Khan’s martial law in 1958. He was
awarded Lenin Peace Prize four years later. His fourth collection of poems ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dast-e-tah-e-Sang</i>’ (Poems from Duress)
got published in 1965.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">It was probably the
Progressive Writers’ Movement from where Makhdoom Mohiuddin and Faiz got to
know each other and became close friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tUnsOCRxzxYInukxBwohxu-z1lIYidyqoiB9RyT3LT02HDSeawKK8Mi3ba5izjK0woaPoqXiiikpcFwzvZNTSVpXv8crnQ7oi0Z4_Hw3M9qMa7zFFCzhsiPrJCWjdZ7d9RJfa6ygx9-2/s1600/plate_+770_0003_Layer+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="770" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tUnsOCRxzxYInukxBwohxu-z1lIYidyqoiB9RyT3LT02HDSeawKK8Mi3ba5izjK0woaPoqXiiikpcFwzvZNTSVpXv8crnQ7oi0Z4_Hw3M9qMa7zFFCzhsiPrJCWjdZ7d9RJfa6ygx9-2/s200/plate_+770_0003_Layer+1.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Makhdoom, known for
his remarkable verses </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Aap Ki Yaad Aati
Rahi Raat Bhar</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Phir Chhidi Raat</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">,
was characterized as a “reluctant Progressive” by Carlo Coppola. He argued that
unlike Faiz, Makhdoom knew how to differentiate his romantic and revolutionary
poetry. He remarked Makhdoom’s shift from one genre to another to be gradual
and complex. After the Partition, he stayed in India while Faiz stayed in
Pakistan, but Urdu connected them across borders. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Both of them had love for
their common language and an understanding for each other’s culture and the
past as well as the contemporary struggles. Among Faiz’s eight volumes that had
been published, his one of the last poems is a beautiful ghazal that Faiz wrote
in 1969 when his dear friend passed away. This ode borrows the meter and the
refrain from Makhdoom’s own ghazal </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Aap Ki
Yaad Aati Rahi Raat Bhar</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">. In his tribute, Faiz expresses his sorrow and
says how his memories keep coming back to him all night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;">In the contemporary
times, when the present is so dark, the dignity of every individual is
questionable, and the freedom to speak up against injustice has been snatched
away in this world, the poetry by Faiz is relevant and hence needed to be read
more than ever before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;"><o:p>- </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;">Saloni
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-75753864681943630712017-08-01T01:31:00.000-07:002017-08-01T01:31:05.951-07:00‘YOU ARE A WIZARD HARRY’<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">When Joanne
Rowling was born 52 years ago on 31<sup>st</sup> 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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nrlh5uvu-FhPtI9ahEtz_0BEHRv3SHqSqSkTYo150xi_onumK0rMNN9MBHykMme-J0Lh-KuhVbbMobKLHL_F8lmWCebiouKaX_L10wFcXvSwHFlhX9bVbKRjXzADcxaRPqqQgq3r2kn4/s1600/NB000006_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1024" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nrlh5uvu-FhPtI9ahEtz_0BEHRv3SHqSqSkTYo150xi_onumK0rMNN9MBHykMme-J0Lh-KuhVbbMobKLHL_F8lmWCebiouKaX_L10wFcXvSwHFlhX9bVbKRjXzADcxaRPqqQgq3r2kn4/s320/NB000006_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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 ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dementers’ </i>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. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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 ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always’ </i>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.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5z7D9PQmF1geSB1FJaUVN39WA-6V61N3kSDjiUPWLphSLSvW6HfcpZE53LpHQQ8mP9zKsBlh694gRbSm_KO6gxcNXvT2IFmLnpNGWUE1_LDWr0UydPmO-DRbBjaLUClqvdsnHLUMBIiB/s1600/HARRYp.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5z7D9PQmF1geSB1FJaUVN39WA-6V61N3kSDjiUPWLphSLSvW6HfcpZE53LpHQQ8mP9zKsBlh694gRbSm_KO6gxcNXvT2IFmLnpNGWUE1_LDWr0UydPmO-DRbBjaLUClqvdsnHLUMBIiB/s320/HARRYp.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">As this maestro who has been bestowed with
several <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>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.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">- Annesha Mahanta</span></div>
<br /></div>
Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-66458298625117865852017-07-28T01:53:00.003-07:002017-07-28T01:53:51.792-07:00Munshi Premchand: A legacy unprecedented<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>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.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJ0453EmzQPhaEANckTBNri5oFpNFUFKVCy-HLFVEfG7gmUqtDhT3U82CLjaFvcabUF-194Jjm9ncsar1o7WV-hXO2qC3FFGQJL5UETmbpzoccBwbe-7Kmz_g_xSChGFfmVpn_9rEu7tI/s1600/MU000017B+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="548" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJ0453EmzQPhaEANckTBNri5oFpNFUFKVCy-HLFVEfG7gmUqtDhT3U82CLjaFvcabUF-194Jjm9ncsar1o7WV-hXO2qC3FFGQJL5UETmbpzoccBwbe-7Kmz_g_xSChGFfmVpn_9rEu7tI/s320/MU000017B+.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As the
literature lovers across the world marks his 137<sup>th</sup>, 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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">His short stories ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Idgah’</i>,
‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kafan’, ‘Do Bailon ki Katha’ </i><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Shatranj
ke Khiladi’<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></i>amongst others<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>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 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chimta </i>for his
grandmother who had burned her fingers while making <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chapattis, </i>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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakrShiDx8vuojwQvlhW99HYQuB8Uxlr3WQXxC_9ZVl2pyrFIsLJDGSLlBSee6W925mFHLSZnJfbx1SNwkRmo9MvAHUVeoI7bThyphenhyphen8n6wCeYJpuhxvOw-FCqVQw7bnjDWBa5avfs7kZKAuf/s1600/MU000017A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="548" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakrShiDx8vuojwQvlhW99HYQuB8Uxlr3WQXxC_9ZVl2pyrFIsLJDGSLlBSee6W925mFHLSZnJfbx1SNwkRmo9MvAHUVeoI7bThyphenhyphen8n6wCeYJpuhxvOw-FCqVQw7bnjDWBa5avfs7kZKAuf/s320/MU000017A.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>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 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Karmabhoomi’
</i><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>set against the backdrop of
Satyagraha movement and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Nirmala’ </i><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>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 ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sevsadan
Mansarovar’</i> are a symbol of Premchand’s formulating genius and writing but
it was with his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Godan’ </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Gaban’</i>, that he reached his cult
status. Considered to be his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">magnum opus,</i>
these canonical works brought out the best of Premchand. His definition of
literature as ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sahitya jeevan ki
aalochana hain’ (</i>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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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. ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saahitya ka aadhar’, ‘Saahitya ki pragati’ </i>and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Saahitya aur manovigyaan’<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>talks </i>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. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">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.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><i>- Ms. Annesha Mahanta</i> </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-88916750959934955772017-06-05T04:45:00.000-07:002017-06-05T04:59:35.110-07:00The Dominant One<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;"> Haiñ aur bhī duniyā meñ su</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "cambria" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">ḳ</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">han-var bahut achchhe</span></div>
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<div align="center" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">Kahte haiñ ki 'ġhālib' kā hai
andāz-e-bayāñ aur</span></div>
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<div align="center" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">(Indeed the universe own many great eloquent, but they say, </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">‘Ghalib’ possess a unique style of narration)</span></i></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">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.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">The life history of Ghalib is truly
fascinating and his biography indeed makes a captivating read.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">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.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">Mirza Ubaidullah Beg was his father, who tied
the knot with Izzatun-nisa in Agra. She gave birth to Mirza Ghalib on 27<sup>th</sup>
December, 1797.</span></div>
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<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdowun7ZdBJYbgI4wu3km68sGMeFrxPIbhubRVzuG0gENJN1iERdUGp_IoQioj4AGrr21x-7xnn-6ZOzrQAVhADTm3AZO35fSuj-4vrhtg0HVtzySCxXE7Isn5Q-kINFfNpjBJh-PmOKfG/s1600/galib2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="548" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdowun7ZdBJYbgI4wu3km68sGMeFrxPIbhubRVzuG0gENJN1iERdUGp_IoQioj4AGrr21x-7xnn-6ZOzrQAVhADTm3AZO35fSuj-4vrhtg0HVtzySCxXE7Isn5Q-kINFfNpjBJh-PmOKfG/s320/galib2.jpg" width="302" /></a><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">Na </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">thā</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">kuchh</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">to</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "cambria" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">ḳ</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">hudā</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">thā</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">Kuchh </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">na</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">hotā</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">to</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "cambria" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">ḳ</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">hudā</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">hotā</span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">Duboyā mujh ko hone ne</span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Na hotā maiñ to kyā hotā</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">(In nothingness God was there, if naught he would persist</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"><br />
<span style="background: white; margin: 0px;">Existence has sunk me, what loss, if I didn’t
exist)</span></span></i></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">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. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">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.</span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">Kyuuñ jal gayā na tāb-e-ru</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "cambria" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">ḳ</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">h-e-yār dekh kar </span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">Jaltā huuñ apnī tāqat-e-dīdār
dekh kar</span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">(Why
didn’t I turn to ashes seeing her face so glowing, bright</span></i></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: 1pt; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0in;">By
envy now I am flamed, at strength of my own sight)</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px;">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</span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9njbSgNYKFlbfPNTZf4ASJdPfyvfVrpdp_ZRw5ukTG7gfXi6KuIHC831rzLFcFMNkuuAmniYGongFKnqjTyQ8lmWOot4ukvNV-XFsPmfqvsCeFKpji9hyphenhyphen3brjvAqrKcbAEXTwEepnxAjb/s1600/MU000047B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="548" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9njbSgNYKFlbfPNTZf4ASJdPfyvfVrpdp_ZRw5ukTG7gfXi6KuIHC831rzLFcFMNkuuAmniYGongFKnqjTyQ8lmWOot4ukvNV-XFsPmfqvsCeFKpji9hyphenhyphen3brjvAqrKcbAEXTwEepnxAjb/s320/MU000047B.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">Apnī</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">galī</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">meñ</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">mujh</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">ko</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">na</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">kar</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">dafn</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">baad-e-qatl</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px;"><br />
</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">Mere</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">pate</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">se</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "cambria" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">ḳ</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">halq</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">ko</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">kyuuñ</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">tere</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">ghar</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: "georgia" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; margin: 0px;">mile</span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>(In your street, do not inter me, when I cease
to be<br />
Why should people find your house when they look for me)</span></i></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px;">He also became an important courtier of the royal court
of <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Bahadur Shah Zafar. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>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. </span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px;">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. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px;">Alcohol consumption and irregular lifestyle took a toll
on his health and he passed away on 15<sup>th</sup> February 1869.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0sRIdgLOVPPPm1RQbw5XL_1-8kVik4Pt0Nfp-g02hRYGS-xvZOT6Wga7zO_dCK7UYIUfVKDmVEwzRG4Wwjhw0UEJ2JXn10XjPafU5jAl_Pv81l7kV8zg31gOMDPMNJC31mGRk7BGKIHeL/s1600/plates1_0001_Layer+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0sRIdgLOVPPPm1RQbw5XL_1-8kVik4Pt0Nfp-g02hRYGS-xvZOT6Wga7zO_dCK7UYIUfVKDmVEwzRG4Wwjhw0UEJ2JXn10XjPafU5jAl_Pv81l7kV8zg31gOMDPMNJC31mGRk7BGKIHeL/s320/plates1_0001_Layer+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px;">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.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px 0px 11px; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0px;">--Ms.Mazia Ahmed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">You can order Ghalib merchandise here - http://bit.ly/2oC7JJs</span></div>
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Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-9815558495240362572017-03-14T11:13:00.000-07:002017-03-14T11:13:32.393-07:00Famous Writers , Infamous Habits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
<b>Friedrich von Schiller</b> <br />
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. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTFRa0HLr6yVTuI0nJfb5azScTNmLiGz1TUz010FkgXjBm2xgLLNXJDwb4slD8q90lLZhcRg6kyQBUFCxUxoGFKxgHmtjFWo0DBF0t9Tkb8JkTHCjgU8aTS_fBUK91dcx4NYCZtqBb5Wlu/s1600/customer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTFRa0HLr6yVTuI0nJfb5azScTNmLiGz1TUz010FkgXjBm2xgLLNXJDwb4slD8q90lLZhcRg6kyQBUFCxUxoGFKxgHmtjFWo0DBF0t9Tkb8JkTHCjgU8aTS_fBUK91dcx4NYCZtqBb5Wlu/s320/customer.JPG" width="256" /></a><br />
<b>Victor Hugo</b><br />
Hugo was known to have purposely driven himself to write<br />
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. Honoré 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. <br />
<b><br />Tennessee Williams</b> <br />
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. <br />
<br />
<b>Truman Capote</b> <br />
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. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireFCe8uhjQ1WMaWRX9XR6AjmiP6OPJJlnVOia82t02BSUg5V39HiP2rCmZYC0PKZSwGgAc7l3VFHfgKWrVMbE-9zHPYu-L5YHYVyf14tBmhAuSnWUDh2SYtxMc_3GvvVMEUNGy3G8mcoU/s1600/goawaymug.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireFCe8uhjQ1WMaWRX9XR6AjmiP6OPJJlnVOia82t02BSUg5V39HiP2rCmZYC0PKZSwGgAc7l3VFHfgKWrVMbE-9zHPYu-L5YHYVyf14tBmhAuSnWUDh2SYtxMc_3GvvVMEUNGy3G8mcoU/s320/goawaymug.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Lord Byron</b> <br />
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. <br />
<br />
<b>Charles Dickens</b> <br />
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. <br />
<br />
<b>Charles Baudelaire</b> <br />
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. <br />
<br />
(Contributed by Ms.Mokshda Manchanda)</div>
Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519832811339973544.post-40209396065753257402016-08-27T00:37:00.000-07:002016-08-30T05:12:05.943-07:00We all have a story to tell...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">All of us at some point in our lives
have looked back and thought “Wow, I could write a book about it, make millions
and live the rest of it in a mansion in the European countryside with tons of
books, a cackling fireplace and a purring cat (or rather lots of purring
cats)”. Okay, I got a little carried away in my version. We all have our
versions. It’s amazing what each of us have gone through, good and bad,
encouraging and humiliating. There are little things that hold deep
significance for us. We find it impossible to explain why they do so and more
often they remain buried deep inside the things we say and do, hardly ever
talked about.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiMSMi42rNUsV_6cAZRpnxi6bF_NdHIOoB3SHg1TLGsAYY8rkrM46IcADZvElUnb0SnLTt1rjJAfXREA0JLIVZn7uK-7PioOfE3jmC0H5zbNZxyAqtuhATQTTXkG2id8CIi3Dhfbq8DTM/s1600/blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiMSMi42rNUsV_6cAZRpnxi6bF_NdHIOoB3SHg1TLGsAYY8rkrM46IcADZvElUnb0SnLTt1rjJAfXREA0JLIVZn7uK-7PioOfE3jmC0H5zbNZxyAqtuhATQTTXkG2id8CIi3Dhfbq8DTM/s320/blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Storytelling is as old as humanity.
The desire to speak and listen of events and people, real or imaginary is
something which comes naturally to us. People have used this natural
inclination to entertain irritating children, earn lots of money, get someone
killed, get themselves killed, earn the favour of a king and quite frankly the
list is endless if you understand where I’m going. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not only do we like to tell stories,
in fact we need to tell them. That is why tangled in urban jungles where every
man is an island we end up paying therapists just so that they’d listen to us! Just
the act of ‘letting it out’ is therapeutic. I recently came across a video of a
man from New York who was paying passers-by a dollar for their story. The idea
being that we have gotten so busy with our lives that we no longer care to
listen to the problems of others. We are the victims and perpetrators of the
same crime.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A few hours before writing this, I
witnessed an outburst by a relative who I adore very much, regarding how she
was treated as a teenage girl several years ago. A lot of it was new and unsettling
for me. Parts of it I suspect, I’d deliberately forgotten because it involved
individuals who I thought of as brightly monochromatic. That is how we think of
our elders as kids – they are either good or bad(those who don’t get you toys
or chocolates) Your story therefore is important because your story will help
me see things that I was oblivious to throughout my life or maybe point me in a
direction that I knew but had forgotten. Your story can help me realize my
mistake.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxZkR7AZTnHMca4yBhleG47nDlAtPpECPTHKToZad8oS1mdRtWiKV49m4NM7vFzmra4c3MiwQSxMc15p_XJYR_wX0UA71F0qfTfDKINSNk-It1wnUsFUwYZs8EJcnuDmhT0sDx0aKGFbm/s1600/MU000030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxZkR7AZTnHMca4yBhleG47nDlAtPpECPTHKToZad8oS1mdRtWiKV49m4NM7vFzmra4c3MiwQSxMc15p_XJYR_wX0UA71F0qfTfDKINSNk-It1wnUsFUwYZs8EJcnuDmhT0sDx0aKGFbm/s320/MU000030.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hence not only is it necessary for
you to tell your story but it is necessary for me that you do so and by me I
mean all of us. It might be silly for you but it might as well be a lesson for
someone else. Never underestimate the power of your experience told with
honesty and humility. The basic premise of <i>The Diary of a Young Girl </i>by
Anne Frank couldn’t be any less promising – the diary of a fourteen year old
girl stuck in a hideout with nowhere to go and no one to meet apart from a few
people. Yet it is a beautiful and more importantly, a relatable story. Its
beauty is enhanced by its universality. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t be afraid to tell your story
to the world and at the same time I would request you to be kind enough to
listen to other people’s story because you cannot expect from someone that you
do not give. It would help you to reflect upon this. Maybe it would show you
ways that you hadn’t seen till now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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</div>
Books etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954172789829271969noreply@blogger.com0