Literature and Evil

It is disgusting how Kabir is so so socially relevant today. It means that our society hasn't changed in six centuries. We still discriminate, hate and kill on the basis of caste, creed and religion. It is shameful. But then so is Shakespeare. Julius Caesar is still remains a textbook for me in politics. Probably because this animal called man doesn't change much. It is Osho, I think, who said that the world changes, man remains the same. Can literature change man? There are so many today, who in spite of overwhelming historical evidence to the contrary, believe that literature can bring about change in human nature. Gunther Grass's From the Diary of the Snail believes that Change occurs usually at snails pace. The Political is finished and the enigma of Evil is what it was. The Yaksha of the Mahabharata is not very pleased with the answers we have been giving. The Sphinx refuses to drown herself and Oedipus can only pluck out his eyes and banish himself. Crime and genocide waits for none.....

Do we need to revisit Nietzsche, the Prophet of Darkness, in the 21st century too?

A Poet Forays into the world of Moral Hacks

As a thirty five year old poet forays into the cacophonous society, he encounters overpopulation, overpopulation and corruption of all sorts. While pollution and population are measurable problems, corruption is a tricky issue, going down deep into the roots of our culture. What is meaning of the term `corruption' and what are the reasons behind it, I often think. Corruption probably means, demanding favours for simply doing one's duty, or bending the law in exchange of favours. It is commerce, illegal commerce.

Indians wax and wane eloquent when there is a discussion regarding `dharma', one of the meanings of the term is one's duty. However, in actual practice, `dharma' is not `dharma' but a form of illegal commerce.

Were we as corrupt since the earliest periods of our civilization? Look at the Mahabharata. Putting one's wife at stake, or five brothers marrying one girl, or a teacher demanding a thumb as part of his dues were not seen as illegal moral hacks. In fact, there are efforts to justify these acts.In medieval period, the rebellious religious poets were tortured and even killed for daring the uppercaste and priestly mafia of all the religions. If this is our moral report card, then even the Lord God cant save us.

Is there any hope at the end of the tunnel? Or is it, as they say, the light of the approaching train?

Writers in Academia

Writers have little or no place in the academic scene in India today. Even in the Humanities and literature departments, creative writing is considered something `freakish', and insignificant compared to the more weighty `critical practice'.

The society, on the other hand, does not take any serious intellectual activity seriously, or rather anything seriously!

So serious creative writing is not taken seriously any where in society.

Thats a major risk of being a creative writer in India.