Archives for “Literature”

The White Tiger Redux

Meera beautifully weighs in with an open letter to Aravind Adiga. It proves one my pet-peeve theories that the biggest intellectual celebrity is also the ...


In the beginning of an essay on contemporary literary criticism, S.L. Bhyrappa dissects a Kannada short story, entitled Rotti (a dish made of rice flour) ...


Ramanujan’s Ramayana

The old suspect, A.K. Ramanujan emerges out of the woodwork on Outlook's pages. The magazine's leader to this article says: ...in a pocket of the Delhi ...


On Government

Government is an evil; it is only the thoughtlessness and vices of men that make it a necessary evil. When all men are good and ...


This post is partly a response to several comments I received on my posts related to the Ram Sethu project. The greater part, however, ...


This was waiting to happen. Prof U R Ananthamurthy has declared he will not take part in literary functions in future. The decision came in the wake ...


Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know

My literary tastes have turned more classical nowadays. That hasn't however, dimmed my fascination for Byron. For some reason, he's like a powerful spell not ...


The Story of DA

To me, the chief value of reading the Upanishads is simply the amazing stories that I find buried beneath layers of terse philosophical expositions. This ...


Deserves a Deeper Look

Blogger Amardeep Singh was featured earlier on this blog. His prose is interesting and I have only the deepest respect for his erudition in literature. But ...


Appreciating a Karnad Play

I haven't followed any Girish Karnad plays after the horrendous Agni Mattu Male (The Fire and the Rain). But it is nice to learn that ...


Run For Cover!

Here is good and bad news, both in the same package. Arundhati Roy is to return to fiction writing, 10 years after winning Booker prize with ...


Dear Kiran Desai

Congratulations on winning the Booker. I've never read any of your books so it'll be unfair to comment on the literary worth of your Big ...


Thoughts on Ananda Coomaraswamy

Ananda Coomaraswamy is one of the little-known figures of India. Which is baffling because a vague estimate of his works runs into more than 15000 ...


Those familiar with Sanskrit--even an introductory course is sufficient--are sure to know Bhartruhari mainly via reading several Subashitaas (noble sayings in verse form). Indeed, almost ...


A Reader Responds

Reader Chetan has sent in a thoughtful comment as response to my post on Ananthamurthy. He has hoped it'll garner a debate, so I'm posting ...


I've stepped late into the controversy with good reason, which will be clear after you finish reading this post. Nitin, I've kept my promise. Bangalore ...


A Gentle Literary Giant

Who goes by the name of D.V. Gundappa, popularly known as DVG all over Karnataka. His rightly acclaimed magnum opus is titled Mankutimmana Kagga; translated ...


The Apology

An old favourite of mine by Emerson is a poem titled, The Apology. Read away. THINK me not unkind and rude That I walk alone in grove ...


JNU Gods and Priests Writhe

The JNU high priests must have cursed the moment they decided to invite Umberto Eco to speak. Says this report: Celebrated Italian author Umberto Eco left ...


It is About Money

In our age, literature per se is all but dead. Without getting overly judgmental, I make this comment after intermittently following the trend in the ...


Is the title of the latest book I read. Two words are sufficient to sum up the book's review: powerful and path-breaking. But I'll prattle ...


Rana Dasgupta Shows Promise

Lots of it, in fact. Indian media is an intellectual wasteland. It devours ideas and spits out brain-dead noodles of celebrity. Books, reviews, artists — everything ...


Read the previous parts: 1, 2, 3, 4 (i & ii) This is the closing post on the Karnad series. I'll try and jot my general ...


In the preceding entry, I said that Karnad has turned Yavakrida's story into a complete disaster . A few years ago, when I was still ...


Read Parts 1, 2, 3 Agni Mattu Male (The Fire and the Rain) is regarded by some as Karnad's finest work. Based on a little-known episode ...