Across The Table
With steaming cups of coffee . . .
Good afternoon to you, friends from Kolkata. It is good to be here, in this historic city, and an honour to be at the famous Kolkata Book Fair. From our childhood we have heard so much about this city, so many of our parents grew up in this city, or studied here, we feel very familiar here.
Niaz Zaman has already told you about our reading circle, but she didn't mention that she is not only the founder spirit, but also the heart and soul of this group.
All of us eagerly wait for the day each month, when we sit with steaming cups of coffee or chocolate - munching buttery croissants, and discuss the book of our choice. We are all passionate readers, but when we know there is a serious discussion to follow, the purpose to the reading certainly becomes stimulating. I find myself quite often using a pencil to underline significant portions, a practice I had left off after I finished my education! While we certainly appreciate writers from the subcontinent, and neighboring Afghanistan The Kite Runner, for instance we have read a lot of international writers. You have already seen the list of books we have read these past five years. One rule we try to strictly follow is, we never read pirated books, though they are sold so temptingly cheap, at all the traffic stops!
Here I will briefly touch upon three authors, American, Marilynne Robinson; Chinese- American, Amy Tan; and Hungarian writer, Rozca Hajnoczy who, interestingly, wrote about her three years spent in Shantiniketon!
Gilead was recommended by Marianne Scholes, our American member, and a voracious reader herself, who brought copies of the book for us from the US. It is the story of this preacher, whose father and forefathers were also preachers, and who is writing a letter to his son. It is written in a quiet, calm and beautifully flowing, narrative style, rather like a peaceful stream. Occasionally there is the uneven, rocky edge, when we see action and even drama. It is the story of honest, strong, salt of the earth people, who know their duty, and never flinch from it. The narrative is not without an underpinning of wry humour, which makes for very enjoyable reading. 'Gilead' is the old biblical town, near the Jordan River, suggestive of Jerusalem. The people who lived here were ordinary, everyday folks, who quietly did heroic deeds, when it was expected of them.
Very different was Amy Tan, the Chinese-American author, who has refused to allow a debilitating disease to defeat her. A prolific writer, she writes of a delightful Chinese-American fusion culture. Her characters have both the ancient Chinese wisdom, and no-nonsense American practicality. A Hundred Secret Senses is the story of Kwan and Olivia, half-sisters, almost like ying and yang, which combined make a whole. Kwan, Chinese born, possesses a secret inner mystique, which helps her see things others miss. Her very practical American born sister, Olivia, has made a mess of her life, her marriage has failed and she lives in a state of despair. It is the Chinese wisdom of Kwan, who guides her, and helps her to regain her equilibrium. Kwan takes her on a trip to China, where they rediscover themselves, and their rich cultural roots. And thus Kwan helps Olivia in a subtle, almost imperceptible way. Olivia's marriage is saved, and she finds the peace which so far had eluded her.
Saving Fish from Drowning is another fascinating work of this author. Here a group of American tourists commence a fateful journey to Burma and China, almost retracing the journey of Buddha. Amy Tan does not hesitate to show the beauty as well as the ugliness of this ancient civilization. The title of the book itself is so delicately subtle: the fishermen do not say they are killing the fish for eating; they are merely 'saving' the fish from drowning!
And lastly, Fire Of Bengal by Rozca Hajnoczy, whose carefully maintained, meticulously detailed journal of the three years she spent in Shantiniketan, which, when published, took Hungary by storm, and became an instant best seller.
Gyula Germanus, Hajnoczy's husband, had been invited by Rabindranath Tagore to head the Islamic chair in Shantiniketan. This Hungarian was a brilliant man of many parts, and also an eminent Islamic scholar of the time. He and Rozsa spent the years 1929-31 at Shantiniketan, where he 'took his classes outdoors under the open sky'.
Through Hajnoczy's journal we see Shantiniketan as it was at the time in picturesque detail. To a European lady from Budapest, everything was bizarre at first, but when, alas, she boarded the ship to finally leave India, she found her heart becoming numb with sorrow.
In her writings we see our own Bengal in a new light, a fascinating place where the cooks refuse to cut vegetable or meat standing up, for everything must be done through squatting on the floor! Where mosquito nets have to be draped over beds, where loyalty to one's master, no matter what, is taken for granted, where there is the good, the bad and the tragic. We read about the Italian bakery, Firpo's, newly opened in Calcutta, which supplies bread to the expat community living in Tagore's Shantiniketan. It is a fascinating journey into history.
The writer has shown us characters which become immortal, the British, the Europeans, the expats and locals. We see and recognize Atunu Ray (Shesher Kabita?), the anglicized Bengali, who is utterly dismayed to find his English wife, Himjhuri, become more Indian than Indians! Gyula and Rozsa travel all over India during their vacations, and we see a glimpse of the vast subcontinent, the India of that time, the culture of hospitality, the traditions, the diversity. They travel up to Darjeeling to pay homage to an eminent Hungarian scholar buried there.
Hajnoczy is not overawed by the personality of Tagore; he in turn stretches out his hand to her and makes her sit next to him at the dinner table!
Fire of Bengal, translated into English from Hungarian by Eva Wimmer and David Grant, has been published by The University Press Limited, Dhaka. It is a must read.
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