Two Points

Last day I had a long informal discussion with Mr. Kanai Kunhiraman,the renowned sculptor,on several issues related to creativity.Among the many things Kanai said two points struck me the most.
1. When a style is repeated it becomes a design.Design has nothing to do with creativity.It results in the mechanical reproduction of a work with slight modifications or variations without moving a step forward in the direction of a new creation.Many of our writers and painters forget this and mock thier own creativity imitating themselves for decades.
2. If you use words as the medium of your creative expression you have the right to express yourself in all the literary forms.In fact you will have a natural inclination to do so and you should not curb or prevent it.That is unnecessry and foolish.
These were ideas I myself had pondered a thousand times.But,when Kanai presented them in his own words I felt them to be quite refreshing.

The Poison behind all Poisons

Participating in a conference organized by the India Vision as part of their Anti Endosulphan Campaign at Govt.College,Kasaragod on 20th December 2010 Leela Kumari Amma a one time employee of the Dept.of Agriculture responsible for the aerial spray of Endosulphan in Kasaragod area said:We were ruined because we opted big life for small life and over production for production.Her speech was very precise,sharp and to the point.She remembered the days when vegetables for daily use were cultivated in the plot adjacent to every house using only cow dung and other organic manures.She said that Endosulphan was nothing but poison labelled pesticide.
Beautiful small life and production just enough for one’s own needs are good old ideas forgotten by everybody.It is very difficult to bring back and incorporate them in our life because everybody is hasty to grab everything and anything that appears in the market. Everybody wants to prove that he/she is fashionable and capable of acquiring anything that the market presents before him/her as signs of good living.As no philosophy or political ideology is alive and active in the public sphere nothing can prevent the people from this rat race and as far as everybody is ruled by the mad craving for possessing all the latest objects and amenities a life beautifully tuned to the rhythm of nature will remain a colourless distant dream ignored by the social psyche.The irresistible market forces that perpetually generate new wishes and needs,most of them quite irrational, is the most dangerous poison about which we in general are almost unaware.Until a new order or system evolves democratically for the social monitoring of all the developmental activities and attitudes having a direct or indirect impact on the public life no welcome change can be expected .

A note on Bhagyanath's Drawings

Man is a late comer. Darwin’s theory is anticipated by origin myths of tribes
all over the world.They say there were beings that preceded our human ancestors : be it simply a hen or crow, or creatures fierce and fantastic. Links are direct in myths while for science there is the eventful process of evolution before the emergence of our distant predecessors .What irresistible force draw us to the memory of those mysterious days when the human beings were only a slightly modified replica of the beasts whose fate they shared to a large extent?And what do we gain from this inheritance of memories from time immemorial?Psychologists and aestheticians generally have a sway over this domain of enquiry. For an artist the very celebration of this awareness, this revelation to which he is raised through visual images up surging from the innermost depths of his self, and the pain and ecstasy of transforming them in one’s own lines and shapes, is an end in itself.
Bhagyanath’s drawings attain a unique strength of communication when they portray the sharing of fate or predicament by a human being with an animal, most strikingly the monkey. This sharing is made possible to a man only when his soul is totally denuded. In those pristine moments a secret play takes place between man and the beast where both straddle the concerns of success and failure. This is followed by a mutual transference or passionate absorption of the other self. All the primordial instincts of life and death are aroused in this process and an indescribable experience, which may perhaps be compared to that of rebirth, is actualized.I think it is an emotional ritual which many artists unknowingly and at times with a magically awakened intellect practice as part of their creative life-a life which otherwise gets muddled with the mundane realities of daily existence. Bhagyanath has brought out with an inspiring ease in his drawings the mysterious beauty, grandeur and even pathos in man’s secret plays and dialogues with the other representatives of the animal world. This is something about which any artist may feel a sense of spiritual delight and elation.

(An exhibition of Bhagyanath’s drawings is held at Kashi Art Gallery,Burgher Street,Fort Kochi,Kerala.)

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Two things are happening in the education field of kerala.
1.The teaching community is asked to step down from the heights of teaching and they are being made facilitators whose only duty is to arrange proper facilities for the students who themselves should collect the data and informations necessary for thier studies.As a result, from a very early age students begin to nurse the wrong notion that they are the creators of knowledge.They feel that whatever has been so far achieved in the field of knowledge by the painful enquiries and efforts of generations is something that they could collect easily and put into use without much strain on thier part. Within a short period they begin to presume that to be able to talk pretentiously and superfluously on anything under the sun is a great virtue.They will also master the technquesof make believe in presenting seminar papers and preparing assignments.A baseless pride and arrongance follow these and reflect in social life as disrespect for almost all human values.
2. Literature and all forms of creative expressions in any field of knowledge are marginalised in the new syllabus.Creativity is looked down upon and the ability to collect informations from various fields is valued very much.The choice based credit system that has been implemented in colleges has created an aversion and contempt towards in-depth knowledge in any area of study and the students have become adomant in hailing peripheral knowledge as real knowledge.What the authorities want them to be is clear.They aim at creating a generation capable of floating freely without any serious concern about anything in a world controlled by the forces of free market.
The horrifyingly subversive changes taking place in the field of education have affected quite adversily all walks of social life in the state.The disbelief and tension swelling up in social psyche have made genuinely serious cultural activitiesand communication impossible. Except a very few NGOs no one is there to take up the burning issues in social life.NGOs have their own limitations.They are often controlled by unfair agencies whose real interests are always kept hidden.In Kerala which is considered a strong hold of left politics to be apolitical has become the ideal of a considerably large section of the people.

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5th December 2010
An evening at Mappila Bay,kannur.From 12 noon I,Artist Satheesh and Masood of Radio Mango were in the Kannur City. We went to the Arakkal Museum and then met Rashid who is in charge of ringing the bell at Arakkal Kettu,five times a day,informing the local people the time for prayer.We also met his father Majeed, an old man aged more than eighty who owns some pigeons which won him 2nd prize in the competition conducted by the District Pegion Flying Association. For more than 2 hrs we were with Anthikka,the famous Mappilappattu singer and Music Guru of the City.He was once well known among the football lovers of Kannur first as a brilliant player and later as very efficient referee.Anthikka is now 73.We left Anthikka's house at about 3p.m and drove to hotel Sona to have our lunch.A large group of Coorg women were there.It was easy to assume that they were returning from Parassinikkadavu after witnessing the Puthari Festival there to which the coorgies attach special importance.
After lunch We went to the famous Attakka Palli and then moved to Maidanappalli area and walked long distance along the seashore.When we came to the Mappila Bay Hanneefa Kurikkalakath,a jounalist recently retired from Siraj Daily joined us.Till dusk we were there exploring the local history of the City area.It was definitely an inspiring experience.

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Some thoughts on 'Circus' after seeing 'Jumbo Circus'at Police Maidan,Kannur,on 3rd December 2010.
Circus has evolved into an art form in it's true sense,reducing the elements of acrobatics and balancing tricks to a considerable extent.Music,Lighting and Choreography have improved tremendously.The elements of drama,dance and even sculpture have been included in almost all items.This has been done with a commendable aesthetic sense.
The second thing I have noticed is that this art form has become truely international in it's form and content.Jumbo circus has artists from Thalassery(Kerala)to Czechoslovakia and Africa and each item or number(the term circus artists prefer)they perform exhibit the local colour and rhythm quite distinctively.Thus a show lasting for 2hours becomes a big visual feast which allows the viewers to enjoy the taste and flavour of Indian,European and African artistic expressions taking the form of Circus.
As Circus is one of the preliminary or basic art form which converts and crystallizes the most dangerous and dramatic movements in human life into symbols of awe inspiring bodily movements and actions any noticeable change in this art form is a reflection of our changing attitudes to life.What we could read from the latest presentations in Jumbo Circus is this:Our life has been freed from many of the tensions we have been experiencing until recently.It has become confident enough to maintain it's local identity while being free to welcome foreign elements into it's fold.

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When asked whether he had any ambition about his next book Manu Joseph who won The Hindu Best Fiction Award 2010 for his novel ‘Serious Men ’replied “I would like to sell”.One may say that there is nothing wrong in being that much frank.But when success in the market becomes the prime concern of a writer the feeble hope we nurse in the innermost corner of our heart that even after all other discourses suuccumbed to the onslaught of market forces literature would resist it and proclaim the diginity of human freedom is crushed and that of course is shocking.It does’nt mean that expecting money for one’s creative labour is something to be looked down upon.But at the same time it is common knowledgethat no one ,no creative writer who deserves to be considered so writes for money.Even if he/she pledges his/her manuscript with a money lender to clear his/her debts,it would be a gross mistake if we presume that it was written for money.There are other serious concerns and drives,some of which may never be understood, that leads one to the writing table.

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30-11-10
Day before yesterday artist Satheesh took me to kannur city in his car.Kannur city is about 2kms away from the presnt day kannur town.City area developed first as a trade centre and later when the Camp Bazar and the South Bazar developed city area lost it’s upper hand in business.Nowadays outsiders take interest in this place because it is the only area in kannur town where the presence of the past is genuinely felt.The thickly populated area with its centuries old mosques, partially dilapidated big godowns,ancient houses,narrow lanes and the Arakkal Museum ,a portion of Arakkal kettu the palace of Arakkal family,the only Muslim royal family of Kerala,converted into a museum all cotribute to the charms of an old harbour city.Wherever we move the invsible past lays it’s soft fingers on us arousing many a nostalgic feelings. It was only 7p.m.But the night has descended early and the electric light flowing out of mosques,shops and houses leaving patches of darkness here and there gave a strange look to the whole area and we felt as if moving along a street somewhere in Latin america or the African coast.We went to the seashore and stood there silently for a few minutes watching the boats seen as small moving spots of light far away in the sea.It was an unusually beautiful sight which filled me with an undefinable joy.
When we came back to the street two youngsters approached us with a receipt book asking to contribute Rs.50 each for a local cricket tournement. When we said we don’t have that much amount with us they readily cut it short to Rs.10 each which we gave them happily.They also were happy and I could feel the real warmth of friendship and understanding in their beautiful smile.

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‘I won't consider silly and insignificant arguments as serious and significant simply because they are presented in the English language.’These words uttered during a heated discussion held in Govt.Brennen College,Thalassery before 37 years echoed in my ears when I reached the last pages of the book 'The Elephant Paradigm' by Gurucharan Das.(Penguin Books India 2002).And then I was really shocked to see the following compliment of Amartya Sen on the back cover : It is a wonderful book.-a great mixture of memoir,economic analysis,social investigation,political scrutiny and managerial outlook thrown into the understanding of India.

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Yesterday I went kuttikkol, a remote village in Kasaragod district to speak in a literay seminar organised by the Neruda Library with the support of D.C.Books kanhangad.It was a humble function attended by less than hundred villagers.The most impressive feature of the seminar was that more than half of the audience were youngsters.The topic of the seminar was Valarunna Keralam ,Thalarunna Vaayana(Developing Kerala and it's Withering Reading).Presenting the paper for discussion I told them that no one can deny the fact that during the last half a century kerala has made tremendous progress in almost all walks of social life,though in areas of humanrights and awareness there are so many issues remaining unresolved.About the complaint raised from many quarters that our youngsters shun the reading habit in favour of so many other trifle things which help them to pass their time idly,I said that such observations are not alltogther correct.Publishing industry is growing very fast and even in a small town like Kannur there are four or five publishers,two of them well established and it is known from reliable sources that books worth more than one crore is sold every year from this town alone.What we have actually lost is the sociality of literature.In the earlier decades of twentieth century when even one percentage of our people were not literate the works of a poet like Kumaranasan had great social impact in kerala.Now we boast of cent percent literacy but the total effect of a literary work upon our society is far less.I didn't elaborate on this point since I was not in a mood to generate a heated debate.
In Kerala the sociality of literture has faded mainly because the left has lost interest in keeping literary discussions and cultural activities alive.They are interested only in pampering the already established idols.The sociality of literature was strongly felt in kerala when the communists had a vision about the function of Art and Litrature,though it was often dim and focused in wrong directions.Now they have given up that vision and moved far away from their own politics.There are writers and political thinkers who argue in favour of this change.Change is inevitable and a political party should have the wisdom and courage to make necessary changes in it's policies and programmes from time to time.But when the changes obliterate the very ideological fabric of a political party,thngs become hopeless.

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What is to be done?What changes should the CPI(M)make in it's mode of functioning in this critical juncture?Local body election has proven without any doubt that the party's mass base has shaken.Why this?Why the 'enlightened' voters in the state took a clear cut stand against the Party,even when they abstained from raising any sharp criticism against the functioning of the Govt.lead by the Left Democratic Front.I strongly feel that the people of Kerala,I mean the majority of them give support only to a party that can genuinely claim to have a strong political philosophy and vision.Until recently they stood behind the CPI(M)because it had a history of anti imperialist, anti fascist struggles from the very beginning, the spirit of which,they hoped the party would be able to sustain.But things have changed.The party leadership found it unnecessary to conceal their strong inclinatin to the developmental schemes sponsored by multinational capitalism and thus proved their poverty of philosophy and their total disinterestedness in approaching and analysing the effects of globalisation on Indian economy and Indian politics,using the tools of Marxism.They went even beyond that and became totally apolitical in their stand in many areas.They tried in vain to compensate their lack of philosophy with impertinence.Leninist organisational principle and stalinist practice joined hands with neoliberal develpomental politics and there developed a strange combination which aroused in the common mass only aversion to the Party.Now history has given a chance or it has made a demand from the Party to critically examine it's politics and programmes and redefine them not in the light of global economic realities only but by giving due consideration to the material and intellectual needs of our people also.People don't live by bread alone.They should also be able to maintain the feeling that they are part of a great movement with an inspiring past and a respectable vision of the future.Otherwise they will have no hesitation in saying 'goodbye!'to the party.Everybody who thinks that there should be a strong political party and a vibrant Organisational set up to fight the evils of the unbridled invasion of transnational capitalist forces is keenly watching whether the CPI(M) will be able to meet the challenges by being straight forward in admitting that it has to make immediate changes in it's political line,programmaes and day today functioning.

...therefore I am

Nowadays I exit from the mundane realities of day to day life and experience the thrill of existence by reading and writing.The inexplicable pleasures of reading without any predetermined purpose have come back after decades with the the same intensity that I experienced during my school days in the 1960s when everyday I ran about 3kms to and fro crossing the vast expanse of the Madaippara for returning the book I read the previous day and to collect a new one from the Kasturba Smaraka Grandhalyam at Vengara(Kannur).I remember those good old days not with a sense of terrible loss but an unbearable pain arising from the thought how much eager and innocent was I in those days.Life has familiarised me with all the evil tricks of this world;I have lost enthusiasm in almost all the happenings in contemporay politics and learnt to be insensitive to many a social issues.To a great extent I am disinterested even in my personal wellbeing.My mind is at presnt a rocky vastness in more than one sense.But I yearn to get this vastness filled in a heavy downpour of emotions and urges so far totally unfamiliar to me.Hence the name Rock Pond for this blog.Of course I can't forget the red wattled lapwings whom I used to see nearby the rock ponds of Madaippara.They were the most fascinating organic delights of my childhood.That is why I made them perch on the address bar.

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For a Turkish reader 'The Museum of Innocence' may mean a great many things.It may be a grand carnival of memories and emotions for him/her.But I found it to be an overwritten novel.Where or in which layer that overwriting has taken place is not easy to point out because the overall structure is that much imposingly built displaying wonderfully great creativity and craftsmanship.Perhaps an ideological reading may liberate the reader from the hypnotic effect of the work so as to enable him/her to have a more meaningful understanding of it.Any how one thing could be said without any doubt:The statement in the blurb that 'The Museum of Innocence is Orhan Pamuk’s greatest achievement' is not in the immediate vicinity of truth.

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11
I am really ashamed to state that I write this note after casting my votes in the panchayat election before an hour.Participation in the process of democracy should elate self respect in a citizen.Otherwise he/she will cut a sorry figure before his/her conscience.Now I remeber 'SEEING'the great political parody of Jose Saramago.With what a strong political vision and insight Saramago wrote that novel!

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10
In kerala directing a drama has become an activity of utter nonsense.Almost all the young generation directors take the stand that a drama on the stage should only be a cunning assemblage of visual images capable of creating wonderment in the audience.Script,for them, is only bundle of papers something scribbled upon which could be thrown to wastepaper basket at anytime.This has spoiled the Malayalam Drama as a whole and because the serious audience could not make a choice between this nonsense and the artless commercial shows using the label of drama this medium is withering away without anyone to weep upon it's tragic plight.

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A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT 'TIGER HILLS'

We know that many of the characters in great classical works are more real than real men and women.They share their ontological agonies and sharp edged moral dilemmas with every new generation or to put it in the words of Umberto Eco readers of every generation 'make emotional investments on them.'
Devi and Devanna of 'Tiger Hills'are of a different sort.They are simple human beings.Their existential issues and tensions are not multidimensional.They never come out freely from the limitations of 'Family Drama'.But the possibilities hidden in them to be raised to the heights of classical characters are reminded on several occassions and that itself is a commendable merit of the work.
I was deeply touched by a statement made by Dr.Ramaswamy,one of the many insignificant characters in the novel.When Devi asked him 'Why?Why Devanna?'meaning why Devanna became a prey to the brutal rage of Martin Thomas without any apparent reason Dr.Ramaswamy sighed absently rubbing the edge of his stethescope against his sleeve."Who can say madam?Sometimes it would seem,we are simply cast in the path of misfotune."Dr.Ramaswamy's words do not have great philosophical connotations.But the tragedy in Devanna's life could not be defined better and I felt a burden over my heart akin to that I had experienced in many a similar situations in life.

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8
Most of the scholars are like feudal landlords.For them knowledge is either like acquired wealth or inherited property which gives them the authority to advise,scold and punish others who undergo the innumerable pains and problems inseparable from any sort of creative writing,painting and the like.Even the spirit of genuine research is beyond their comprehension.The greed and haste of these scholars to exhibit their insolence is repusively ugly.

SARITA MANDANNA'S 'TIGER HILLS'

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Sarita Mandanna’s debut novel 'Tiger Hills' is not a great literary work . It has many shortcomings.The diction is often loaded with sterile phrases and usages. Characterization lacks density in many situations. Narration also is at times disappointingly flat and crude. These are all totally adverse comments,Iknow.But the fact remains that I enjoyed reading the novel. I have an irrational love for everything related to coorg.The landscape of Coorg always gives me the feeling that my soul really belongs to this mystic land.When I get down at Veerajpet or Gonikoppa from Thalassery Mysore bus and move a few steps to interior areas I feel as if reaching back the land of my childhood left far behind.'Tiger Hills' gave me that indescribable and infatuating experience.'Tiger Hills' is even otherwise a literary work which can legitimate it’s being without such personal considerations on the part of readers like me.It takes you to so many nuances of coorg life and landscape The period described in the novel extends only upto the fourth decade of 20th century.But the incidents and details along which the plot moves forward take with them the ethos of present day coorg life, with wonderful ease.And of course there are some unique elements in the construction of plot and in the depiction of some areas of the inner life of characters.These things deserve detailed discussion and anaysis.Irresponsible comments like ‘Tiger Hills is nothing but a triangular love story’ ,should not be taken seriously.In grading the novel people may take diametrically opposite stands.That is a different thing.The inner thirsts, agony and pleasures of creativity quite explicit in this work ,of course, demand serious conideration from readers.In future writers with deeper insight and strong visions may spring up from Coorg.We can expect works with far more literay merit from them.But 'Tiger Hills' will continue to attract generations of readers.The cretive usage of ethnic and anthropological details of Coorg in the novel will always be a great source of inspiration for many and the memory of several dramatic and tragic situations in the novel may haunt them for years.I keep Sarita Mandanna’s novel in my shelf in between M.N.Sreenivas’ Religion and Society among the coorgs of South India,a really invaluable cultural study and Kavery Nambeesan’s Scent of Pepper the novel which has every right to claim a unique position among all the writings on Coorg life.

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6

My love and affection for the English language began at a very early age.My uncle whom we used to call Damu uncle went Singapore searching a job when he was bearly 18.Later when an exchange of power took place in Singapore he opted Bitish citizenship and setteled in London.Untill his death in 2009 June at his residence at Thaliyil near Parassinikkadavu,(Kannur,Kerala) Damu uncle was a British citizen.A few years back he came to his mother land with the hope that he would be able to live here with all the leagal rights of an Indian.In those days he started an Institute at Eripuram naming it The Sreedevi Institute of Spoken English.For that he bought a big plastic round table and a few chairs.Damu uncle had to close his institute because he could’nt collect even one third of the amount he had to pay as rent .
I began to nurture a love for the English language during my ‘wanderings’ with Damu uncle who came home from London once in two or three years for a stay in our home for one or two weeks or at the maximum a month.Damu uncle would be very busy from the very moment of his home coming.He would visit all our relatives,even those distant ones whose links to our ancestral family would have to be established through so many cross references.But he considered that he should maitain all the age old ties.It was his emotional necessity and he considered it a moral responsibility also.Damu uncle took me with him wherever he went. He met his old friends,business men and doctors and lawyers who were his close friends during their stay in London for higher studies.Damu uncle and his friends conversed almost always in English and I sat among them as a frightened,silent listner.Even now my fear of the English language is very strong.But one thing;when years passed I understood that my mothertongue Malayalam is no way inferior to English and those whose spoken English was excellent had no serious considerations about the literature or other serious discourses in English or any other language.For them language is a tool for communication and proficiency in a foreign language is the easiest way to establish supremecy over others in certain critical situations.They are totally ignorant of the aesthetic value or the emotional fabric of a language that makes it unique among thousands of languages in the world.
25/9/2010

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5

I often pity myself because my psyche does’nt permit me to stick on to a literary form for a considerably long time.In the midst of writing a novel I will begin to ponder over the possibility of attempting a drama or a travelogue or a study on latest issues in the field of education.Sometimes leaving aside the novel I may enter the world of poetry and remain there for ten or fifteen days or I may begin to write a short story that demands continuous whole hearted involment for many a days.This annoying indiscipline which has become a part of my writerly life is a frquent headache for which there is no medicine other than a strong decision on my part .I should acquire the will power to order the writer in me to put an end to his untimely infatuations.But from years of experience I have learned that it would not happen even in the farthest future I could forsee.Even then I nurse a weak hope that oneday,as one fine morning I stopped smoking after three decades of struuggle, it would be possible for the writer in me to say goodbye to his weakness and would be able to sit for months together to write a really big novel with characters of immense variety in their physical appearance, experiences and visions.

15/9/10

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‘ Living with the Himalayan Masters’ is a cllection of spiritual experiences narrated by Swami Rama and edited by Swami Ajaya.Anyone may find the book highly readable because
(1) it has a simple and soothing diction
(2) All the ideas and thoughts expressed by Swami Rama are easy to comprehend and several of them may invite him/ her to accompany them at least for a few minutes.
But unless you are an ardent,blind believer you can’t digest some of the experiences narrated in the book, especially those related to the healing power of the Himalayan sages.And of course one can’t expect answers to or not even analysis of the basic issuses related to social inequlities and other problems arising from them in a book like this.
3/9/10

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I entered the ‘computer age’ before 6 years.But so far my usage of this wonderful instrument hasn’t gone beyond micrsoft word and intrnet explorer.Even then when I look back I feel that it has given something in the way of energizing the writer in me mainly because of the easiness that I experience in the process of writing with the help of a computer.My handwriting is very bad and unless I rewrite several times most of what I write will remain unreadable for others.I myself may find it difficult to read if I come acroos a manuscript that has remained out of sight for a week or so.The computer key board and the options for editing and saving have been of immense help for me.This ofcourse is only a personal gain.What exactly is in my opinion the social impact of computer?Definitely, this great scientific invention has freed the human race from tens of thousands of boring unnecessary repititions.It has helped us to save time and energy in different areas of labour.But I feel the the greatest contribution of computer is that it has liberated crores of people all over the world from the fear or lack of confidence in expressing oneself through writing.Though a serious reader may feel a vast majority of the blog writing silly and boring the thirst for creative expression and communication that is fullfilled through any blog is simply great.In future writings in the cyber space will definitely be considered a very interesting and inspiring area of creative expression.

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My attraction towards internet is quite magnetic and I know for a man nearing 58 it is rather unusual and may perhaps be an undesirable sign also.Any how Iam not in a position to shed away this attraction.I feel for sure that in the nearest future writing in cyberspace will develop as an area of brave new activities in the field of literature and the ignorance of that area will be a matter of discomfort for anyone involving in any type of literary discourse.
2/9/2010

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I have completed reading Chitrakar the autobiography of Benodebehari Mukherjee(1904-1980) translated and introduced by K.G.Subramanyam.

The book has four chapters: The Artist(Chitrakar),Master of the Household(Kattamashai),The Creator(Kritikar) and Art Quest(Silpa Jignasa)

The first chapter is a very interesting narration of the artist’s life experiences from early childhood till he became totally blind at the age of 53.The second piece “The master of the House hold” describes Benodbehari’s passage from light to darkness.This is done mixing factual and fictional elements.This was the piece that Benodbehari wrote first.The next chapter “The creator”(Kritikar) is a parable which can be interpreted variedly though for sure it could be said that Benodbehari’s concepts of art and its strange relationship with reality is a prime theme of the parable.The last chapter is in a way an extension or elaboration of this chapter.Here the artist discusses various issues related to the meaning and function of art.The key elements that differenciate Indian,Chinese and Japanese art are clearly pointed out.

The book is made more worthy and meaningful by the foreward ,introduction and appendix written by K.G.Subramaniam.The Appendix is concluded thus: “But he was in his last years terribly nostalgic about Santinikethan.He used to often say that when he closed his eyes,the image he saw of himself was against its old austere landscape with its forlorn palm trees.He often saw himself as a solitary palm in the middle of that landscape.”

Simplicity in narration and directness in the presentation of ideas are the most striking qualities of this autobiography.See the opening sentence of the Preface :The closer a man approaches his end the more he recalls his past; in other words he looks for himself in the world of memory.The first chapter begins with a still more simple statement :I see my childhood in the grey light of my memory.

The theoretical standpoints of Benodebehari on art presented in the book cannot claim great philosophical gravity or not even originality.But the sincerity and serenity that one can feel in each and every word give his thoughts a rare beauty and warmth.

Binodebehari has expressed his attitude towards realism and abstraction in the following statement without giving any space for doubt : An artist builds a pedastal for his image of man somewhere between an earth-to-heaven ascent and a heaven-to-earth descent.This may stand close to earth’s reality or heavens above; in one case it is built of factual ingredients and in the other,of abstract ones.Unless it has found a place between the ascent and descent no work will be fully fructuous.(p.148).

The publisher of Chitrakar is Seagull Books,Calcutta.(2006)