THE CIRCLE OF REASON, BY AMITAV GHOSH

The Circle of Reason by Amitav Ghosh
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The AUTORPRENEURS and their era..

“Literature” has, in both form and way it reached the readers, evolved during its course of history. The long dramas of Shakespearean Era refuting the dogmas and structure of the erstwhile Elizabethan Era, the emergence of various forms of poetries and establishing certain conventions in the usage of symbolism and appreciation of beauty of the Romantic Era, the rise to prominence of the ‘novel’ genre in the Victorian Era (which still continues as one of the foremost genre), cite only one thing- that Literature, like any other thing in the universe, follows the only constant thing “Change“.

With the evolution of lifestyles, has evolved our literature. There was a certain time writing was seen as a non paying profession. Unless the current time when some writers who by employing certain celluloid-inspired methods to promote their books, garner greater readership and hence make huge profits in this “dying business”. They treat their book as a “startup” or business and go on to profit from it. This group of authors who run this enterprise are known as “AUTHORPRENEURS”.

These authorpreneurs have given a new dimension to modern literature. We can find many a newcomers taking up writing as a profession. The authors who reach the level of stardom can boast of having readership equivalent to that of fans of any superstar.

Why do we need authorpreneurs?

Often there were instances of many good books never see the light of the day or even upon doing so, they barely reach beyond a handful number of bookshelves. These authorpreneurs take it to themselves to make it reach satisfactory number of readers. The number of bestsellers has increased, so did the number of readers. His is certainly a positive sign for those taking up writing as a profession. They no longer have to worry about money to some extent.

But how far does commercialization of literature help literature?

As a matter of fact literature was never bereft of commercialization. Shakespeare never out rightly opposed Elizabethan beliefs so as to maintain the number of audience visiting his theatre. Dickens began serializing his novels to keep the readers always in want of the complete story.

In the current times however obtaining better profits from books has become more prior to coming up with better books. We know how a product rightly advertised sells irrespective of its quality. So will looking at a form of art as a product mean the decline of its quality imminent? Well to some extent it does so. Many writers without putting in much research and hard work bring out their novels.

This situation gives rise to two different segments of readers. On one hand we have selective readers (the class) who settle for nothing less than good, on the other hand, we have the mass, who give in to popular fiction without considering about literature. The readers of belonging to the class feel low towards the mass and look down upon them as mere less educated. This causes dissent to the writers of the mass. This gives way to “LITERAL DISCRIMINATION”.

Moreover the business these books do currently in the market has no indication whether it would go down in the history as “classical”. Whether our era of authorpreneurs will be regarded of as highly in future as the erstwhile eras are? Well it will be better to leave these questions for time to answer.

As it has always been difficult to identify something as black or white distinctively for everything is to varying extents “grey”. We have to accept the two sides of the coin. Being literal about literature, if thorns could be appreciated in spite of bearing thorns, we must all see the good about our era thus adjusting ourselves to the thorn. We as readers, pivotal to the whole scenario, must understand the difference and appreciate the good. We must not allow someone to take advantage of our aloofness and misguide us towards having a bleak conception about literature.

Hope to see better days in future. Keep reading, keep loving. 

Of Christmas... and us.

Being a fan of Dicken’s literature since childhood, Christmas always reminds me of the famous character of Ebenezer Scrooge. The man, as miser as a miser could be and as cold in emotions as his suppers would be, when visited by ghosts of past, present and future and looks at his situation undergoes a change of heart and unleashes the spirit of Christmas . This being the plot of the story not only is fascinating for the children but is motivating for the grown ups alike.

In our everyday life we do come across many people who seem to be of similar nature, not that they are cold, but they seem to have lost the track of time. They think they have plenty of life ahead of them to enjoy, but what they do not realise is that the time they think they have is actually the time that is spent on thinking so. It is often so that when we really think of enjoying our time, we realise we haven”t really got much.

All those things we worry about, our career, our finance, our position, if reflected upon introspection, we shall find that it is all a hollow thing we are all chasing. It seems meaningful from the outside, but within it, it contains nothing but void. Life is not meant to be a void.

So in this Christmas, let us not just worship Christ,let us take time to rejoice what the almighty has left us with. LIFE. Let us try to bring some smile on our fellow being faces, let us restore hope to the people in despair. Let us live in this Christmas. Merry  Christmas. Spread love. 

Why do we do when we don't want to?

Often in life people do certain things which we never really like doing, but somehow we are compelled to do so owing to the circumstances and our inability to escape. Given one chance to do the same in their field of choice they not only bring good results but also work more diligently and with a greater passion because there is no greater incentive than the burning desire of our hearts.

The where do we go wrong in choosing our paths? Why don’t we all follow our dreams? The answer may seem difficult and many people may seem to avoid it. In fact the answer is something which is not unknown to all. Following one’s dream requires dedication and hard work, not everyone is rich enough to afford it. In a dream following art or creativity, the path is not easy. Neither is it for those seeking quick money. Those pursuing it may find their peers succeed in life much before they had even began. More than that, we have our conservative family system’s hypocrisy which loves to adore their homes with art, listen to music all the time and discuss literature with pleasure but when it comes to allowing their kids to pursue such profession is a big no-no.

Thus we find bored up government clerks, uninterested people in information technology, irritated commuters in public vehicles. I really cannot say how this problem needs tackling because I myself am trapped in this rooster coop. The only thing I can assure is that till I set myself free, I shall keep fighting. I won’t let anything as moral degradation come in my way. I shall strive to survive and strive to be someone from no one, even if it is someone who tried to be something, I’ll be that. No matter whatever it takes.

Intolerance, Tolerance or Acceptance, What we must be our way?

Recently, there had been a ruckus in the media giving rise to endless debates and discussions in the homes of the common man and the Parliament alike. It has reached such a level of pseudo-priority that we have almost turned our blind eye towards other serious incidents occurring around us.

The debate for “Intolerance” seems to be replacing all the other issues of our country. Now, what is “Intolerance” and how did it emerge?

Intolerance is belief that in the present times, the Hindus (the majority religion of India) have become intolerant about other religions and are taking violent means to suppress them. The veracity of this notion is so far buried by the opinions of the individuals and religious radicals of both the groups.

The ones who believe in the existence of this are coming forward and raising their voice condemning it. While others simply believe that the concept of Intolerance is vague as they are tolerant towards other groups or other people are tolerant about them. But by simply stating that they are tolerant would not mean you are opposing Intolerance, rather you are giving rise to the inferiority of the other groups because being tolerant would mean you have a power over them. This is not equality. The opposite of intolerance had never been tolerance. It is “Acceptance”. Yes, we need to be accepting towards each other, like we had always been.

Of course there had been many cases of disturbances which speak against acceptance towards others like the Gujarat riots of 2002, the riots after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1984, the rise in the toll of deaths due to honour killings and the like.  While we point a finger at each other for these incidents, we must remember that only a few people were responsible for the genocides and murders and not an entire religion. There are many people who were against these gruesome acts. The people who initiated these were the very ones who do not want us to be united with each other. These are the same people who are giving rise to these notions of intolerance, to create another disturbance. We, as Indians must not give in to this.

We were divided earlier and these divisions were the catalysts for East India Company’s taking over our territory. Should we give in to this, we may give way for rise of a similar scenario. History is for us to learn, not to repeat itself. We have shown our solidarity towards each other during times of turmoil in Chennai and in Uttarakhand, we had come together and demanded justice for a rape victim, we were united while during Civil Disobedience Movement. Let us not forget the very essence of our country and let us not allow any person to misguide us with their notion of intolerance or tolerance. We must come forward to raise our voice against intolerance and instill the notion of Acceptance. We must strive to keep India’s Unity in Diversity.