Book Review: In Custody

Desai, Anita. In Custody. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1984. 204pp. Print.

Anita Desai is an English-language Indian novelist and author of children’s books who excelled in evoking character and mood through visual images ranging from meteorological to the botanical. Her sensitive portrayal and understanding of intrinsic human nature makes her writings conspicuous and captivating. The novel,In Custody is one of the examples.

I just loved reading the novel. It’s a fantastic experience for me. As I was reading the novel, I was able to imagine the things happening within in the novel in my mind very clearly. I felt one among the characters. The vivid character portrayal and the language of the author carried me into the world of imagination where I travelled without any hindrance and got an unimaginable experience for my life.

As the saying goes: “If winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” in spite of all the bad things, there is a ray of hope in everyone’s life. 

Desai’s novel, In Custody paints this idea of hope in the life of the protagonist, Deven, his life is tinged with optimism in the end, in spite of all the pessimism he had in the beginning.

The story is told in a third-person point of view. The setting of the novel is Mirpore and Delhi. There are three main characters in the novel around them the story runs. They are: Deven, Murad and Nur. Other characters are: Sarla (Deven’s Wife), Manu (Deven’s Son), Nur’s two Wives, and other side characters which include Deven’s friends in college and assistants. The novel contains eleven chapters. Throughout the novel, some poetic lines are quoted which adds colour to it and makes the reading a pleasurable one.

The Epigraph which sums up the whole theme of the novel is:

‘…..they should take the power

  And they should keep who can.’

                              Rob Roy’s Grave

                        William Wordsworth

The state of Deven can be summed up in his own recitation of Nur’s verse:

“Withered as the last leaf upon the tree

Shaken by the chill blast of winter”

The novel starts with an air of pessimism hung over in the atmosphere of Mirpore, where the novel’s protagonist, Deven resides. Deven is a simple professor of a college in the department of Hindi, a department that carried the capacity of high literature but, presently lies, almost in a dilapidated condition, firstly, due to the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the students to master the subject-a subject that had little or no value in the job market and secondly, due to the composition of the town itself, a town of the tea wallahs and the truck drivers, in short inhabited by a class of people that form a distant part in the desire to grasp the beauties of philosophy, art and poetry.

Into this dismal world, comes a ray of hope in the form of his childhood friend and companion, Murad. Murad is the editor of an Urdu magazine that aims to publish long lost unpublished pieces of poems of high artistic value of the once famous, decrepit poet Nur Shahjenahabad who“is a whale in a pail of water”. Deven being an Urdu lover jumps in joy as Murad gives him the opportunity to interview the poet, something that he had wished since the time he relished the writing of Urdu poets and novelists.

The twist in the story occurs when he finds how the life of Nur whom he considered as the epitome of reverence and regard, the God of Urdu poetry, is fraught with misery and poverty. Poverty in both the sense of the lack of material goods and the poverty of the mind-the psyche. He is not only plagued by ill-health but also by his surroundings. The competition between his two wives, the noise and chaos of the fanatics, and the absence of decorum all combined create a distorted atmosphere, an unaesthetic ambience.

Nur’s Verse:

“Night ends, dawn breaks, and sorrow reappears,

Addressing us in morning light with a cock’s shrill crow...”

“My body no more than a reed pen cut by the sword’s tip,

Useless and dry till dipped in the ink of life’s blood”

It’s Deven who gets entangled in the innumerable chains of difficulties surmounting Nur in the process of his interview. The interview turns out to be less of an oration of his lost poetry and more a revelry comprising rum, kebabs, biryani and gluttonous talks combined with an inefficient assistant and a second hand tape recorder meant to record Nur’s voice, in an attempt to make the work easier. All this leads up to dismal failure, making him shell out money on food, on room rent, on bribing his first wife to fix up the appointment, followed by Nur’s letter back in Mirpore about his intention to visit Mecca and to inform about his cataract operation. The whole novel portrays a descending trajectory of Deven and the rise of miseries coupled with misfortunes.

The happiness of being with a child is one of the elements, which touches the heart of the reader. Manu is the son of  Deven. Deven forgets all his failures and troubles when he sees and chats with his son. Manu gives hope to his father. He redeems him from his sufferings and gives happiness with his childish prattle. Deven admires his son with rapt attention which Deven didn’t get from his parents:

“He (Deven) told himself how lucky he was to have exchanged the dangers of Nur’s poetry for the undemanding chatter of a child.”

The novel questions the meaning of friendship that stands on selfishness and insensitivity as observed by Deven’s relationship with Murad, the bonds of marriage mirrored in Deven’s complacent behaviour towards his wife and the educational system of the nation where students with scientific backgrounds are meant for the luxuries of life whereas those with a knack for humanities are shown to rot in dingy classrooms. This fact is also revealed in the way in which Deven’s Hindi students take technical classes outside in order to get employment, giving least importance to the learning of the subject within the college premises. This is a reflection of the fact that the art, culture, heritage and history of the country lies threatened in front of the emerging technological boom of the globe.

The novel can be regarded as an optimistic tale of Deven and Nur in spite of the repeated pessimisms hovering in their lives. This is because Nur at the end finds himself a custodian to breathe to him his life as it actually is and Deven gets the opportunity to take the custody of the divine poet whom he almost worshiped. This is an achievement in itself:

“He (Deven) imagined he was taking Nur’s poetry into safe custody, and not realized that if he was to be a custodian of Nur’s genius, then Nur would become his custodian and place him in custody too.” – The Title of the Novel.

Desai’s In Custody is a portrait of human lives. It incorporates language-confrontation, male-dominance and existential concerns of Desai.The character, Deven is not an individual. He is the representative of the entire middle class people. Through his life, we can see the struggles, financial need, insecurity, controlled aspirations, and restless working of the middle class people for their hope of getting better in life.

To conclude with the verse from the novel that resonate the theme of hope:

“The breeze enters, the blossom on the bough wafts its scent.

The opened window lets in the sweet season, spring”.

- S.VEILLAKSHMIKANTH

Book Review: The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Robin Sharma’s The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Reading Robin Sharma’s The Secret Letters of the Monk who Sold His Ferrari was a refreshing experience for me. The book offered a fresh perspective on life in the postmodern world. It also provided a pleasing stillness amidst the deafening noise of the present world. I feel that the book talks to me. I also feel that I can relate to the character, Jonathan in the book. In fact, I feel that anyone who reads this book would feel the same.

The book speaks of the need for self-reflection. It also talks about the real meaning of happiness. I was reminded of the fact that though we need to give importance to the self, it is not possible to live in isolation.The book also showed that the most important duty of man is to save a life. It also asserts that life is worth living. It shows that it is necessary to discover life to make it meaningful.

Another thing I liked about the book was the aphoristic style of writing.There is a wonderful coherence in the narration. The author builds up our suspense at the very beginning and he does not disappoint at the end. The use of 1^st person narration in the book is apt to make the character of Jonathan appear more close to the reader. The mood of the narrator shows a gradual change as the book progresses. In the beginning, he is agitated and hopeless. Towards the end, he is calm and hopeful. I liked the manner in which the story progresses to show the making of a new individual in Jonathan. Robin Sharma creates a metaphorical journey into the soul as Jonathan embarks on a physical journey to discover himself.  The author also presents great truths and philosophies in a condensed style. Usually, philosophies are considered to be something pleasing to listen to, but hard to practice. Sharma shows that they can be put into practice, through his brilliant narration. This book was different from other self-help books because the author does not merely list out philosophies one after the other. On the other hand, he allows us to experience and realize for ourselves that they are true.

Some of my favourite lines from the book are:

Ø  It’s not everyday you get to save a life

Ø  The most important gift we can give ourselves is the commitment to living our authentic life. To be true to ourselves.

Ø  …bravery isn’t really something you feel. It’s something you show.

Ø  Every moment in front of another human being is an opportunity to express our highest values and influence someone with our humanity.

Ø  We can make the world better, one person at a time.

Ø  Make Small Daily Progress.

Ø  If we are mistrustful of others, we are distrustful of ourselves.

Ø  Do a work that matters.

Ø  Living life in a way that is right for you is sometimes about finding all the different elements you need.

Ø  Give time to the little things of life.The more basic pleasures are the ones that enrich and sustain us.

Ø  The purpose of life is “love.”

Ø  How well you live your life comes down to how much you love. The heart is wiser than the head. Honor it. Trust it. Follow it.

Ø  It is important that you forgive others. It is important that you forgive yourself.

Ø  What is important is that we do contribute. That we make a difference. That we leave a legacy.

The book presents a wonderful portrayal of a human being’s relationships to himself and to others.However, I also feel that that the author could have provided some insight on the human relationship with the divine. I feel that that the circle of new birth of the character, Jonathan would be complete only if God is there. The human being cannot be in control of his/her life completely. He/She needs divine help to supplement self-help. This link in the chain seems to be missing.Still, I would recommend the book because it is not like any other book that you would or must read and forget. It is worth reading for the fresh outlook on life that it provides. It would surely linger on your mind for a long time.  On a scale of 10, I would give it a 9.

Pheba K Paul

Book Review: The Immortals of Meluha

AMISH TRIPATHI’S ‘THE IMMORTALS OF MELUHA.’

Amish Tripathi’s debut novel ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ is the first book of his “Shiva Trilogy.” This is an admirable work by the author, narrated in the third person point of view. The novel is not a Historical report but Amish is kind of Humanising the Myth.

The novel says “the story of the man, whom legend turned into a God.” The story takes place in 1900 BC at the “Sapt Sindhu.”  The novelist argues that this place is what modern Indians “mistakenly” call the Indus Valley Civilisation. As the synopsis of the book goes; The inhabitants of that period called it the land of Meluha- a near perfect empire created many centuries earlier by Lord Ram, one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived. This once proud empire and its Suryavanshi rulers face severe perils as its primary river, the revered Saraswati, is slowly drying to extinction. They also face devastating terrorist attacks from the east, the land of Chandravanshis. To make matters worse, Chandravanshis appear to have allied with the Nagas, an ostracised and sinister race of deformed humans with astonishing martial skills. The only hope of Suryavanshis is an ancient legend; “When the evil reaches epic proportions, when all seems lost, when it appears that your enemies have triumphed, a hero will come.” And this is how the rough-hewn Tibetan immigrant Shiva becomes their hero. The novel proceeds through the stream of consciousness technique. Shiva’s love towards Sati, the daughter of the Suryavanshi emperor Daksha, Shiva’s dilemma once they conquer the Chandravanshi dynasty and his conflicts with Nagas, make the novel almost a thriller. I am not disclosing the whole story of the novel as it has slight twists enough to make the reader sit and read the whole book at a single go.

Lord Shiva, according to Hindu Mythology, is considered as the destroyer among the Trinity (where Brahma is the Creator and Vishnu the preserver). But what we find in the novel is the Preserver Shiva on whom a whole empire is looking forward for help. “Will Shiva end up being a destroyer?” is one question that echoes in the reader’s mind when the novel proceeds towards the end, but to get the answer, one should finish reading all the three parts of the trilogy. The novel rationalises the religion through certain stories. Almost every mythical stories presented to us in the past, in relation to Lord Shiva, are rationally presented with valid reasons and hence we find it difficult to question the authority of humanising the myth. The ‘blue neck’ of Lord Shiva and his name, “Neelkanth” is presented with a different story from the real myth, but it is justified.

Vivid characterisation is one notable component of the novel. All the characters have a mythical base but are at times different from the myth. For instance, Nandi, according to the myth, is a servant of Lord Shiva. But here the character of Nandi is an outsider, coming from Meluha and offering Shiva and his tribe a better life at Meluha (though with a hidden intention) and later becomes Shiva’s dear friend and servant. Similarly the characters are presented quite differently from the real myth. One factor that attracted my attention is the portrayal of strong women characters. The best example is ‘Sati,’ the heroine who is as brave as the hero. According to the myth, Sati represents “Shakthi” and hence she is powerful. Here Sati is the daughter of Daksha, which is truly based on the myth and she is a different woman who is efficient in different areas such as dance and even in martial arts. Almost all other women characters are notable. The author has shown justice to all his characters avoiding all unwanted characters and situations. Every character has his/her importance in the novel.

Amish is addressed as “India’s Tolkien” by Business Standard, for his vivid descriptions throughout the novel. Shiva’s “Tandava” and the love story of Shiva and Sati, all are presented vividly in an interesting manner. The author introduces to some basic tenets of human nature when he speaks of the prominent features of the Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi societies and their differences. Amish doesn’t crudely say anything in the book. And this is evidently seen from his descriptions of the places Shiva visits. For convenience, the author has included map showing India of 1900 BC. There are certain incidents which could make the reader think deeply and hence can put us into dilemma as Shiva falls into, towards the last part of the novel. One interesting part is after when the Suryavanshis triumph in the war and Shiva trying to reason his own activity of supporting the Suryavanshis. In the 25^th chapter of the book Shiva thinks: “Freedom. Freedom for the wretched to also have dignity. Something impossible in Meluha’s system of governance.” This is one of the catchy quotes I could find in the novel which adds on to the dilemma.

Being born and brought up in a Hindu family, the mythical stories I was acquainted with were always formal in structure and tone. They received a respectful awe as they were all on the Lords I worship. Hence when I read Amish first, it comes as a bit of jolt when Shiva is found swearing “dammit,” “rubbish,” bloody hell” etc. And the story of him eyeing a woman (Sati) and trying to woo her is also something entirely opposite of what is known (kind of unacceptable too). But the reminder that Amish’s Shiva is just a human being as we are, justifies everything. The novel at times, makes the reader forget that it is a story taking place in 1900 BC. The well developed infra-structure of towns Shiva visits, the highly facilitated room arranged for Shiva at Meluha, with attached bathroom and obviously the terms used by Shiva and other characters at times affirms this doubt.

An after-thought that the book leaves the reader with is the interpretation, or rather the misinterpretation of good and evil. It is a similar dilemma which the hero is left in too. The book might not occupy the reader’s head with serious questions on life but it obviously is a populist page-turner. The novel is presented in an informal style suitable for the intended readers. The author’s concepts are well-defined in a clear and convincing language. The plot hardly ever slows down and the reader would never lose interest as one event leads to another.

‘The Immortals of Meluha,’ by Amish Tripathi, in short, is a perfectly admirable work for its easy and racy narrative style.

- Aparna, R

Book Review: The Hiding Place

The Hiding Place is a 1971 book on the life of Corrie ten Boom, written by ten Boom together with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. The title refers to both the physical hiding place where the ten Boom family hid Jews from the Nazis, and also to the Scriptural message found in Psalm 119:114 which states, "Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

The riveting story of the book begins with the ten Boom family celebrating the 100th anniversary of the family watch and watch repair business, now run by the family's elderly father, Casper. The business took up the ground floor of the family home (known as the Beje). Casper lived with his unmarried daughters Corrie (the narrator and a watchmaker herself) and Betsie, who took care of the house. It seemed as if everyone in the Dutch town of Haarlem had shown up to the party, including Corrie's sister Nollie, her brother, Willem, and her nephews Peter and Kik. Willem, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church brought a Jewish man, who had just escaped from Germany, as a guest. The man's beard had been burned off by some thugs, a grim reminder of what was happening just to the east of the Netherlands.

In the next few chapters, Corrie talks about her childhood, her infirm but glad-hearted mother, and the three aunts who once lived in the Beje. She talks about the only man she ever loved, a young man named Karel, who ultimately married a woman from a rich family.

Eventually, both Nollie and Willem married. After the deaths of Corrie's mother and aunts, Corrie, Betsie, and their father settled down into a pleasant, domestic life. Then, in 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands.

The family had strong morals based on Christian beliefs, and they felt obligated to help their Jewish friends in every way possible. The Beje soon became the center for a major anti-Nazi operation. Corrie, who had grown to think of herself as a middle-aged spinster, found herself involved in black market operations, using stolen ration cards, and eventually hiding Jews in her own home.

Corrie suffered a moral crisis over the lying, theft, forgery, and bribery that was necessary to keep the Jews her family was hiding alive. Moreover, it was unlikely that her family would get away with helping Jews for long, as they had nowhere to hide them. The Dutch underground arranged for a secret room to be built in the Beje, so the Jews would have a place to hide in the event of an inevitable raid.

It was a constant struggle for Corrie to keep the Jews safe; she sacrificed her own safety and part of her own personal room to give constant safety to the Jews. Rolf, a police officer friend, trained her to be able to think clearly anytime in case the Nazis invaded her home and started to question her.

When a man asked Corrie to help his wife, who had been arrested, Corrie agreed, but with misgivings. As it turned out, the man was a spy, and the watch shop was raided. The entire ten Boom family was arrested, along with the shop employees, though the Jews managed to hide themselves in the secret room.

Casper was well into his eighties by this time, and a Nazi official offered to let him go, provided he made no more trouble. Casper did not agree to this, and was shipped to prison. It was later learned he had died ten days later.

Meanwhile, Corrie was sent to Scheveningen, a Dutch prison which was used by the Nazis for political prisoners, nicknamed 'Oranjehotel'--a hotel for people loyal to the House of Orange. She later learned that her sister was being held in another cell, and that, aside from her father, all other family members and friends had been released. A coded letter from Nollie revealed that the hidden Jews were safe. While at Scheveningen, Corrie befriended a depressed Nazi officer, who arranged a brief meeting with her family, under the pretense of reading Casper's will. Corrie was horrified to see how ill Willem was, as he had contracted jaundice in prison. He would eventually die from his illness in 1946. Corrie also learned that her nephew, Kik, had been captured while working with the Dutch underground. He had been killed, though the family did not learn of this until 1953.

After four months at Scheveningen, Corrie and Betsie were transferred to Vught, a Dutch concentration camp for political prisoners. Corrie was assigned to a factory that made radios for aircraft. The work was not hard, and the prisoner-foreman, Mr. Moorman, was kind. Betsie, whose health was starting to fail, was sent to work sewing prison uniforms.

When a counter-offensive against the Nazis seemed imminent, the prisoners were shipped by train to Germany, where they were imprisoned at Ravensbrück, a notorious women's concentration camp. The conditions there were hellish; both Corrie and Betsie were forced to perform back-breaking manual labor. It was there that Betsie's health failed. Throughout the ordeal, Corrie was amazed at her sister's faith. In every camp, the sisters used a hidden Bible to teach their fellow prisoners about Jesus. In Ravensbrück, where there was only hatred and misery, Corrie found it hard to look to Heaven. Betsie, however, showed a universal love for everyone—not only for the prisoners, but also for the Nazis. Instead of feeling anger, she pitied the Germans, sorrowful that they were so blinded by hatred. She yearned to show them the love of Christ, but died before the war was over. Corrie was later released because of a clerical error, but she was forced to stay in a hospital barracks while recovering from edema. Corrie arrived back in the Netherlands by January 1945.

- Andrew Titus

Book Review: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

No doubt, this book will test the strength of your emotional capacity, but also will leave you dazed as to our natural inclination towards the ‘bravery’ of the main character Amir. Wonderfully painted with the Afgan conflicts in the background, we get an insight into another culture yet failing to leave our ties of childhood memories which we genuinely relate to. Amir and Hassan, partners in crime, shared a beautiful childhood, although from different perspectives, until the ill-fated day that deeply scarred him creating a wide chasm between their ‘Brotherhood’.

The title ‘The Kite Runner’ is the central event around which the plot is constructed. Yearning to attain the love that he never really experienced, Amir is forced to battle between his morals and his childish selfishness at the cost of his tainted heart. Hosseini’s descriptive capacity brings out the agony that the central character feels but consciously omits what the sufferer has to say. All that Hassan sincerely thinks is summed up in his lines “for you a thousand times over.” What we can summarise from the story is that Amir is a human with all his flaws but again forces us to hold Hassan in the spotlight for being the contrast with his selflessness.

What I could sympathise with was the guilt that loomed in the mind of a child and the deadly poison that it could spread. We’ve all had at least that one experience where our older siblings come to our rescue to take the blame. Amir, however hard I tried, still in my eyes remains a selfish character. The brief tussle between Assef does glorify him but immediately ceases to too on account of his redemption from his ‘sin’ as a means to live peacefully.

Hosseini has taken us from our cocoon of comfort into the wild, war mongering streets of Afghan to etch in us, an image of culture, nationality, brotherhood, religion etc first through the naiveties of a child’s mind and further through the complex, irrational workings of corrupted adult minds. The culmination of the book, pleasing to most readers simply feels like a drama filled ‘deus-ex-machina’ to fix it all up for the main character to look selfless and chivalrous in the audience’s eye.

Despite the few flaws that I found displeasing to my taste in a novel as such, I discovered scenes that touched me to the core. Naming one would be injustice, but the scene in chapter 8 under the pomegranate tree where Amir yells “hit me back! Hit me back goddamn you!” simply made my heart melt at the condition of both the characters unable to relate what’s on their minds.

Hosseini captured the tender hearts of his readers and has imprinted into them the lives of two characters-in-the-flesh as two sides of a coin, complementing each other.

- Christina Mary George

Book Review: The Colour Purple

Book title: The Colour Purple

Author:      Alice Walker

Published: 1982

A 1982 epistolary novel that has captured the hearts of many over the years. It has won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and the National Book Award. “Dear god” is definitely the phrase that holds the entire novel together. There is a brilliant use of language where we see the presence of structural nativism and dialect at play. One takes time to understand and get into the flow of Walker’s brilliance and once you do, there is no thought of quitting. And “dear god”, what else can I say? It is a journal like no other where we get to see the inside of a true woman and I say ‘true’ because we just don’t see a strong woman but also the brokenness and hurt within that eats parts of her slowly. Any woman finds herself in Celie- not perfect, submissive, thoughtful, loving and most of all human! In a nutshell the novel is about how a ‘woman’ becomes ‘Celie’ and gains back the lost identity. Though this could be read as a feminist creation the primary notion isn’t so, hence it becomes an amazing read for every anti-feminist too.

This is a book that is rich in characters. The narration is in first person which reduces the distance between the reader and the narrator. The major characters are Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery and Albert. Their children and their families are also talked about as it is a close knit society but the reader understands the world only through Celie’s eyes. Majorly there is a chronological narration of the incidents but there are enough inflections in the mind of Celie to make the novel seem like a stream of consciousness one. This causes an automatic connection of the reader to associate themselves to the functioning of that society. The title is one of a kind. Though seemingly irrelevant the title denotes the major advice given by Shug to Celie as to how one should take notice of God’s creation, a field of purple flowers. The point at which Celie is able to admire and enjoy nature signifies the ending of the novel.

Written in the form of a journal, it captures the attention of the reader. My love for this grew as I found that Celie is every woman and not just a misfit of her society. This novel unlike any other shows how people break and build one another irrespective of the fact thatif it’s a man or a woman. The fact that the very man who shatters a woman’s life can be the very person who, in due time would be the one who builds her up too is interesting, and all the more so in a world where we only hear of a ‘strong woman’ who shouldn’t lean on anyone else. Celie is me and though our lives are different, in the core of our beings we are a ‘Woman’. Walker never hesitates to showcase the realities of her time and hence we see child abuse, rape, rebellion and anger and lesbianism explained in all its nudity. I recommend that it should be included as one of the must read classics in at least all of the universities. I say this not because of its feminine characteristics but because it contains the role of both a man and a woman in building each other up to become better human beings. This would definitely sensitise the men of our societies to the emotional trauma that is caused and how important they are in the shaping of a woman. I also find it interesting as to how the author made such a socio-cultural specific novel into one that is universal in its approach.

One of the initial troubles of reading this novel is the language. Alice Walker uses the dialect of the natives and hence it takes a while ‘to git use ta it’. Though this stops the flow it causes one to melt into the characters and events which, makes us a part of the novel. The idea of being a foreigner in one’s own country is explicated through the letters of Nettie. The novel has been made into a movie too but I think that the novel is visual enough. This happens to be that one novel in which no part is to be parted with. This isn’t a gender, sex or culture specific and hence it becomes a novel worthy of position in everyone’s library. And “dear Nettie” I can say nothing more but thank you!

- Joanna

Anu M Varghese

Magdalene

I. Vijayalakshmi

Maanini

Siva Kumar

Priyanka

Oswin Barnabas

Irene Shilpa

Akash Sajikumar

Aparna

Helen Ann Joseph

Preeti Shenoy

Rebecca

Agnes

Mohana Priya

Ann Maria Sebastian

Jose Mary Jenifer, A

Chitra, S

Helen Glory, R

Indumathi, D

Joanna Shalom John

L. Jolene Candice

Saleena, S

Fragrance Praisy George, S

Hannah Chandran

Haripriya Sreekumar

Merril Mary Mathew

Jayashree Rajan

G. Akil Raj

Alissy Sara George

Christina Mary George

Ravi Shankar, S. N

R. Kumara Sethupathi

V. Bhuvanesh

S. Veil Lakshmi Kanth

Andrew Titus

Pheba K Paul

'The Eloquent Sounds of Silence' - Pico Iyer: Critical Summary

The Eloquent Sounds of Silence - Pico Iyer

Introduction

God’s one and only voice is silence, says Melville. Pico Iyer brings out the importance of silence in his essay “The Eloquent Sounds of Silence” by singing paeans to silence. According to Pico Iyer, when people go on retreat, to a high place and feel the warmth and joy of being lifted up in a cool and secure place far away from the madding crowd, they start to recite the standard litany: that silence is sunshine, silence is rapture, silence is golden, etc. But silence is not so easily won. Moreover, before rushing off to the hills, it is essential to remember that fool's gold (i.e the easily obtained iron pyrite) is much more common and that gold can be obtained only by a great amount of hard work, since it has to be dug out with great care and effort, from other substances. Such is the case with silence.

Silence is the Consecration of the Universe

According to Herman Melville, all profound things and emotions of things are preceded and attended by Silence, and hence silence is the general consecration of the universe. Just before his death, he came forth with his final utterance -- the luminous tale of Billy Budd - and showed that silence is only as worthy as what we can bring back from it.

Silence is Spiritual

We have to strive a lot to earn silence, and then, to work for it: to make it not an absence but a presence in our lives. Silence is something more than just a pause; it is that enchanted place where space is cleared and time is stayed and the horizon itself expands. In silence, we often say, we can hear ourselves think; but what is truer to say is that in silence we can hear ourselves not think, and so sink below ourselves into a place far deeper than mere thought allows. In silence, we might better say, we can hear someone else think.