Ek
bodh amader antargato rakter bhitar khela kare ( a
sensibility that plays in within our blood ) as Jibananda Das quietly did his
menagerie of words to define a man in the infinite, ananta.
Mahabharata, unlike other epics of the world occupies a unique epicenter. It is
hardly considered as the literary text by the folks, it is like a text being
read and being told in many different contexts and it has unparalleled
impact on the Indian psyche, it is like a springboard to philosophical
discourse, to ethical polemics. Its temptation to Indian authors appears
irresistible, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Mahasweta Devi and numerous others and
it will go on. This tradition flows transcending the time. To me it is a text
unending, is being written in continuum by readers by their response, by
drawing it forward and ultimately leaving to the posterity. It is an
inalienable component of Indianess, Bharatbarshiyata as
Rabindranath Tagore described our nationalism in Gora.
Mahabharata
, a tale of intrigues , conspiracies, strategies, invasions, passion and of
gory bloodshed is bound for a journey for Nyaya which demands exposition of
truth. Arindam is depicting his saga of this unending epic. "I have
traveled across the length and breadth of India and
I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have
seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do
not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone
of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I
propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for
if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater
than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and
they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation." This
is a statement made in 1835 by none other than Lord Thomas Banington Macauley
whose penal code has been used as the tool by Arindam to interconnect the
crimes of the protagonists as arrayed by Vyas, in the backdrop of a blooming
love. It is like a binary twist , love and violence, while violence is
interpreted as orgy of wild passion and hegemony. Bridging Souls: A
Journey from Mahabharata to Bharata is awe-generating in its idea and weaving
the text. Arindam’s has its niche,a true reader seldom affords to miss such an
invitation for storm over a cup of tea.
No comments:
Post a Comment