Born in 1955, the young professor, writer and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, joined the protesters against the totalitarian brutal regime during the Tiananmen Square Protest in 1889 and became very vocal in favour of establishment of democracy in lieu of the dictatorial monopolistic communist rules like many other like minded youngsters and intellectuals. Though China has changed to some extent under the pressure of time, with the fall of communism almost everywhere, the dictators are very reluctant to give way. Liu Xiaobo’s career was crippled since then. He has been under surveillance, subject to different types of tortures throughout the period and now undergoing eleven year prison term though he has grown more liberal wishing a gradual change of the system of the Government.
This year and this day, the Human-rights day, he has been chosen to receive the Nobel Peace Prize “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China” but he has been behind the bar and none of his relatives and friends (his wife is under house-arrest and friends have either been arrested or prevented from proceeding to the site of the prize giving ceremony) were present in the Oslo City Hall to witness the conferring of the award to him as per arrangements made by the Chinese Government.
Though there may sometimes remain disagreement about the decision to bestow Nobel Prize to certain individuals for the world is, as it is, always partial, that does not preclude the recipients to receive the prize for it is the decision of a body which may or may not be to one’s or the other’s liking. But the Chinese Government has made virulent publicity against the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, pressurising the Governments to refuse the invitation to attend the function, even under coercion and threat of retaliation, directly or indirectly.
This is certainly a suppression of Human Rights.
We understand that this type of opposition to such award was once enacted by Hitler. In an article titled, “Servant of the State” by Jianying Zha in The New Yorker in its November 8, 2010 issue we read, “A leading contemporary Chinese novelist, widely admired for his laconic style, once told me, ‘Mao is China’s Hitler.’” It is no wonder that Hitlerism still continues there, will continue till it bends to democratic pressure of the public giving birth to a new China. We certainly regret and oppose the move to prevent Liu Xiaobo and his people to be present there to receive the prize.
© Aju Mukhopadhyay, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Introducing Sri Aurobindo’s Creative Literature
In the face of huge publicity and propaganda in favour of some freedom fighters whose names are the main thrust of some political party, making them cult figures, Sri Aurobindo’s name as a freedom fighter has faded into oblivion. The young generation hardly knows the true history of the freedom movement of India.
Sri Aurobindo lives in the mind of the people as a philosopher and a great thinker. Beginning with his journalistic days to the last of his poetic era, he wrote large number of essays; political, socialistic, analytical and interpretative of scriptures besides translations of classics from different languages.
But he remained a poet from his student days to the last and wrote good number of dramas besides some short stories. He could be a remarkable dramatist and fiction writer too apart from poet but he was either engaged as a secret revolutionary leader or a political leader in the open field, either a professor, journalist, social thinker or a philosopher, doing yoga, meditating while walking for ten or more hours, in between his constant efforts to create literature, translate or edit them, at different periods of his life. Busy with many other things, his original works of imagination, largely remained incomplete, inconclusive. In a stormy life, shifting from place to place, Sri Aurobindo often lost track of his own works. Some of them were in police or Government custody, recovered by chance after he passed away. In search of perfection he often amended his own works; revised, corrected or added volumes, may be once or many times, sometimes leaving little tracks for the compilers and editors. It proved difficult sometimes to reconstruct his works which at the same time gave chance to some infidels to distort his works.
It may even be that he wrote more, completed more than it seems left incomplete but he could not keep them in a regular way, could not find a trace of them. And it may equally apply to Sri Aurobindo what the Mother once said to remind her disciple that they belonged to eternity, hinting that they did not care to keep all records of their works to the temporal world. His yoga diary consisted of jotted down notes in simple note books or chits of paper, not meant for preserving. Sometimes a disciple found some papers containing his works among pieces to be destroyed or burnt down and he kept them with care.
We may refer to a portion of the well meaning opinion expressed by K. R. Srinivas Iyengar, his learned biographer in his work, ‘Sri Aurobindo-a biography and a history’ -“In one sense, of course, it is unfair to Sri Aurobindo’s literary genius to discuss plays and fragments which he did not finalise or complete, and which were not published at all.” (Pondicherry; SAICE. 1985 edition. P.144)
On the whole, compared to his non-fiction and other works his original creative literature was quite less. It is little known that he was a fiction writer and a dramatist. Even as a poet he has not been accorded that altitude as he deserves in the minds of the critics and common people. The other reason for this is perhaps that he wrote not in his Mother Tongue.
All his short stories were posthumously published. Only one drama was published during his life time. Not all his poems were published during his time.
© Aju Mukhopadhyay, 2010
Sri Aurobindo lives in the mind of the people as a philosopher and a great thinker. Beginning with his journalistic days to the last of his poetic era, he wrote large number of essays; political, socialistic, analytical and interpretative of scriptures besides translations of classics from different languages.
But he remained a poet from his student days to the last and wrote good number of dramas besides some short stories. He could be a remarkable dramatist and fiction writer too apart from poet but he was either engaged as a secret revolutionary leader or a political leader in the open field, either a professor, journalist, social thinker or a philosopher, doing yoga, meditating while walking for ten or more hours, in between his constant efforts to create literature, translate or edit them, at different periods of his life. Busy with many other things, his original works of imagination, largely remained incomplete, inconclusive. In a stormy life, shifting from place to place, Sri Aurobindo often lost track of his own works. Some of them were in police or Government custody, recovered by chance after he passed away. In search of perfection he often amended his own works; revised, corrected or added volumes, may be once or many times, sometimes leaving little tracks for the compilers and editors. It proved difficult sometimes to reconstruct his works which at the same time gave chance to some infidels to distort his works.
It may even be that he wrote more, completed more than it seems left incomplete but he could not keep them in a regular way, could not find a trace of them. And it may equally apply to Sri Aurobindo what the Mother once said to remind her disciple that they belonged to eternity, hinting that they did not care to keep all records of their works to the temporal world. His yoga diary consisted of jotted down notes in simple note books or chits of paper, not meant for preserving. Sometimes a disciple found some papers containing his works among pieces to be destroyed or burnt down and he kept them with care.
We may refer to a portion of the well meaning opinion expressed by K. R. Srinivas Iyengar, his learned biographer in his work, ‘Sri Aurobindo-a biography and a history’ -“In one sense, of course, it is unfair to Sri Aurobindo’s literary genius to discuss plays and fragments which he did not finalise or complete, and which were not published at all.” (Pondicherry; SAICE. 1985 edition. P.144)
On the whole, compared to his non-fiction and other works his original creative literature was quite less. It is little known that he was a fiction writer and a dramatist. Even as a poet he has not been accorded that altitude as he deserves in the minds of the critics and common people. The other reason for this is perhaps that he wrote not in his Mother Tongue.
All his short stories were posthumously published. Only one drama was published during his life time. Not all his poems were published during his time.
© Aju Mukhopadhyay, 2010
Short Verse Delight
Aju Mukhopadhyay, a bilingual poet and writer, a member of the Coordination
Committee of The Haiku Society of India, member of the
World Haiku Club and other bodies, has been contributing poems of
Japanese genre to various magazines and ezines, national and
international, for many years. Some of his poems are categorized as
'Editor's Choice', some are arranged as 'Honourble Mention' some are
shown as 'Haiku of Merit', etc. One of his poems with translations in
Bangla and Romanian has been published in the anthology of haiku
poems, 'One Thousand Cranes', published from Romania, as the only
contribution from India. His poems have been translated and included in
quite some anthologies.
This is his seventh book of poems in English and second of this variety
with 100 selected haiku and 30 tanka poems besides four relevant essays
published in different Indian magazines. They speak of the poet's creations
and creative ideas; the position of short verse in the world of poetry, the
introduction of haiku in India by Tagore who himself created no haiku,
Tagore's short verse and its comparative position and lastly, what is haiku
and the recent trend in haiku movement.
Some excerpts from the critiques of his first book of such poems, 'Short
Verse Vast Universe', may give some idea about the quality of his verses.
Every word has a special effect; every stanza reveals a lot and every poem
goes deep into the essence of the mind. Expressing Haiku is a talent that
not many can possess and Mr. Aju Mukhopadhyay is so well-versed in the
art that every line of the poem infuses meditation and devotion. (Dr.
Shubha Mukherjee in 'Poetcrit' and 'Contemporary Vibes')
Short Verse Delight
Aju Mukhopadhyay
“Concise expression, clarity, sensory immediacy, and an allusive quality of
hinting at rather than stating explicitly are the hall marks of good short poems of
Japanese origin, and these attributes are central to Mukhopadhyay's poems.
(Patricia Prime in 'Poets International') ”
A Chapbook of thirty pages reveals the enlightened genius of Aju
Mukhopadhyay who has amazingly mastered the art of writing haiku, tanka and
short verse. His latest book under review is a flowing cascade but zigzagging its way,
not flowing within the confines of concretized elbowing pavements.
(Contemporary Vibes)
“
”
PRASOON PUBLICATION
www.computerplanetindia.com
Ph. : +91-124-2250680 9 7 8 8 1 9 0 2 4 3 3 7 7
Cost of the books is Rs.95 or $4-available from ajum24@gmail.com
Committee of The Haiku Society of India, member of the
World Haiku Club and other bodies, has been contributing poems of
Japanese genre to various magazines and ezines, national and
international, for many years. Some of his poems are categorized as
'Editor's Choice', some are arranged as 'Honourble Mention' some are
shown as 'Haiku of Merit', etc. One of his poems with translations in
Bangla and Romanian has been published in the anthology of haiku
poems, 'One Thousand Cranes', published from Romania, as the only
contribution from India. His poems have been translated and included in
quite some anthologies.
This is his seventh book of poems in English and second of this variety
with 100 selected haiku and 30 tanka poems besides four relevant essays
published in different Indian magazines. They speak of the poet's creations
and creative ideas; the position of short verse in the world of poetry, the
introduction of haiku in India by Tagore who himself created no haiku,
Tagore's short verse and its comparative position and lastly, what is haiku
and the recent trend in haiku movement.
Some excerpts from the critiques of his first book of such poems, 'Short
Verse Vast Universe', may give some idea about the quality of his verses.
Every word has a special effect; every stanza reveals a lot and every poem
goes deep into the essence of the mind. Expressing Haiku is a talent that
not many can possess and Mr. Aju Mukhopadhyay is so well-versed in the
art that every line of the poem infuses meditation and devotion. (Dr.
Shubha Mukherjee in 'Poetcrit' and 'Contemporary Vibes')
Short Verse Delight
Aju Mukhopadhyay
“Concise expression, clarity, sensory immediacy, and an allusive quality of
hinting at rather than stating explicitly are the hall marks of good short poems of
Japanese origin, and these attributes are central to Mukhopadhyay's poems.
(Patricia Prime in 'Poets International') ”
A Chapbook of thirty pages reveals the enlightened genius of Aju
Mukhopadhyay who has amazingly mastered the art of writing haiku, tanka and
short verse. His latest book under review is a flowing cascade but zigzagging its way,
not flowing within the confines of concretized elbowing pavements.
(Contemporary Vibes)
“
”
PRASOON PUBLICATION
www.computerplanetindia.com
Ph. : +91-124-2250680 9 7 8 8 1 9 0 2 4 3 3 7 7
Cost of the books is Rs.95 or $4-available from ajum24@gmail.com
Insect's Nest and Other Poems and Short Verse Delight
Aju Mukhopadhyay, a bilingual poet and writer, has authored 12
books in Bangla and 16 in English. This is his sixth and seventh books of poems in
English besides two in Bangla. He has been awarded prizes and honours
for his poetry by national and international institutes. His poems
sometimes topped the list or kept as one of the top poems in such web
journals as Poetsindia.com and Asianamericanpoetry.com. His poems
have been translated in some international languages and widely
anthologized. Articles on his poetry and anthologies/books published
with his works are on the increase. Some of the modern critics have
assessed his poetry thus-
Insect’s Nest
and Other Poems
“Mukhopadhyay writes in full bloom in utter celebration of the beauty of nature.
He is essentially romantic in spirit. Like Shelley andWordsworth, he sees themysterious
divine force in the beauty of nature which is rarely sung by the modern poets who are
mostlyweaned away by the ugliness of themetropolitan life and social issues.
(Dr. K.V.Raghupathi in- 'Brave New Wave- 21 Indian English Poets') ”
Aju Mukhopadhyay
These wonderful poems are composed like an onomatopoeic song dedicated to
Nature's beauty. They reflex the sounds, rhythms, movements and energy that flow
freely on Natural world around humanity. The author brings us to magic
surroundings where we are forced to observe, as he teaches us to do, the incredible
harmony and fantastic buildings of knowledge that hide in the Natural outside. He
makes us to understand the deep spirituality that lives in Nature.
(Maria Cristina Azcona in-'A Guide to Find Peace')
“
”
PRASOON PUBLICATION
www.computerplanetindia.com
Ph. : +91-124-2250680 9 7 8 8 1 9 0 2 4 3 3 7 7
“Aju is at his best to spread the aura of spirituality in the life full of hustle
bustle and conspiracies.”
(Dr.Ram Sharma in-'Poetcrit')”
Cost of the Book Rs.95 or $4 avaialable from ajum24@gmail.com
books in Bangla and 16 in English. This is his sixth and seventh books of poems in
English besides two in Bangla. He has been awarded prizes and honours
for his poetry by national and international institutes. His poems
sometimes topped the list or kept as one of the top poems in such web
journals as Poetsindia.com and Asianamericanpoetry.com. His poems
have been translated in some international languages and widely
anthologized. Articles on his poetry and anthologies/books published
with his works are on the increase. Some of the modern critics have
assessed his poetry thus-
Insect’s Nest
and Other Poems
“Mukhopadhyay writes in full bloom in utter celebration of the beauty of nature.
He is essentially romantic in spirit. Like Shelley andWordsworth, he sees themysterious
divine force in the beauty of nature which is rarely sung by the modern poets who are
mostlyweaned away by the ugliness of themetropolitan life and social issues.
(Dr. K.V.Raghupathi in- 'Brave New Wave- 21 Indian English Poets') ”
Aju Mukhopadhyay
These wonderful poems are composed like an onomatopoeic song dedicated to
Nature's beauty. They reflex the sounds, rhythms, movements and energy that flow
freely on Natural world around humanity. The author brings us to magic
surroundings where we are forced to observe, as he teaches us to do, the incredible
harmony and fantastic buildings of knowledge that hide in the Natural outside. He
makes us to understand the deep spirituality that lives in Nature.
(Maria Cristina Azcona in-'A Guide to Find Peace')
“
”
PRASOON PUBLICATION
www.computerplanetindia.com
Ph. : +91-124-2250680 9 7 8 8 1 9 0 2 4 3 3 7 7
“Aju is at his best to spread the aura of spirituality in the life full of hustle
bustle and conspiracies.”
(Dr.Ram Sharma in-'Poetcrit')”
Cost of the Book Rs.95 or $4 avaialable from ajum24@gmail.com
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