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Time's Harvest
Amaresh Datta
Jogen Chowdhury
其他書名
A Cycle of Poems and Drawings Based on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
出版
Seagull Books
, 1996
主題
Poetry / General
Poetry / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
ISBN
8170461170
9788170461173
URL
http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=Gi1jtXQxzz4C&hl=&source=gbs_api
註釋
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, with their multi-textured tapestry of personalities, issues, values, relationships and tales-within-tales, have been a fertile source of creative expression down the centuries. Thinkers, writers, poets and artists from every region and segment of Indian society have revisited these epics and cast them anew. Each has read them in a particular way, and rendered them according to an individual creative and philosophical purpose. Time s Harvest is a part of this colourful tradition. Different characters from the epics come alive in all their human frailty and complexity in the pages of this book. The poems, several of them in the form of long dramatic monologues, are rich in human psychology and emotion. Sensitively written, each centres on the thoughts and feelings of a personality from the epics, who emerge as a warm, living human being rather than a mere character in a saga. Interestingly, the poet turns his attention to incidents and figures which are not commonly stressed, and thereby enriches our knowledge of the epics. He also adds new dimension to that knowledge by introducing a fresh point of view. Here, for example, we have the voice of an aged Dasharatha, in shock at the cruel stipulations of his queen Kaikeyi, mourning the imminent loss of a beloved son; of Ravana, in a quiet moment, cogitating over the train of events that led him to avenge his honour by abducting Sita; of Ravana s queen, saddened by his bullying ways, comparing him unfavourably to his gentler, more sympathetic younger brother; of Satyavati and Gandhari, looking back over a life of betrayed dreams; of Yudhishtira preparing for his final journey. The vivid drawings in the inimitable style of master artists Jogen Chowdhury complement the deeply humane tone of the poems. The artist spent a long time in the world of the poems, getting to know them well before he began to work on his part of the collaboration. The result is a suite of visuals which combine with the words to create a poetry uniquely their own. Professor Amaresh Datta is Emeritus Professor of English at Guwahati Univrsity, Assam. He was formerly Chief Editor, Encyclopedia of Indian Literature, Sahitya Academy, New Delhi and Professor and Head, Department of English, Dhibrugarh University. Jogen Chowdhury is a leading artist of India, with a distinctive style which has gained him much recognition. Since 1987 he has been at the Department of Painting, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan.
