Bangalore Diaries

  One of the more contemplative, philosophical, yet heart wrenching novel by the genius Saraswati Putra, Dr. S. L. Bhyrappa. In the Epilogue of the English version, the authors explain that there is no accurate meaning for the word “Niraakarana” and hence, the refusal is the closest approximation. Personally, I totally agree with this assessment. While some of the other famous novels make us contemplate about the external world, the happenings of which have immense and far reaching ramifications on the self and the world alike, this is quite a different one. This novel purely delves into the internal world or rather an assumed internal world of the protagonist and the ramifications thereof on his family, specifically his children. The book is the journey of Narahari, a twice-widowed father of five children, who gives them up for adoption and seeks solitude. Yearning for detachment from attachment, he undergoes an arduous journey through Himalayan peaks to the plains of Ganga and th...

  Saraswati Putra S. L. Bhyrappa’s prowess with the pen is renowned far and wide. His commentaries on relevant socio-political themes have found very wide acclaim. Dharmashree which was written very early in his writing career is truly a magnificent landmark of exquisite story telling with hard-hitting commentaries on few topics that impact the society even today. SLB’s writing is brisk, impactful, endearing and leaves an undeniable mark on one’s minds. When such a classic masterpiece was translated, it is no surprise that one would lap up the English version, which is quite close the Kannada original. I would highly recommend non Kannada speakers to read the English one. I will pen down my review in 2 forms. First, I will write about the book and second, I try to capture the thought process from the viewpoints of few of its central characters. Dharmashree is the journey of a poor Brahamana kid Satyanarayana (Satya) as he battles childhood poverty and his innate desire to get educa...

  First, I would like to start this review by humbly surrendering and bowing down to the magnificence of Sri Rama, whose stories inspires and energises generations. I strongly feel it was his will and immense blessings on Dr. V. Raghavan to come up with this rarest precious gem. AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE . As I complete the book, an overwhelming sense is sweeping over mind, which is still grappling with some serious questions. Just how did Dr. V. Raghavan come up with this book in that age? We need to understand the complexity and enormity of the task at hand. This book is constructed from the lectures delivered by Dr. V. Raghavan in 1977. Of course, I am reminded of similar magnificent book, “Lectures on the Ramayana” by Rt. Hon. V. S. Srinivasa Sastri. However, the intellectual depth and breadth exhibited by the author is just too enormous to even comprehend, let alone fathom. The book is about Dr. V. Raghavan’s analysis of the most popular Ramayana renditions across various stalwa...

  On Shankara Jayanti 2024, Ayodhya Publications launched 15 books out of which this book was the only one in English. As with any book on the charismatic leader of Bharatha, this book evoked a curiosity immediately, so much so that I put a favourite book on the back burner and started reading this book. Before I delve into my review, I feel it is fair to set an expectation. I have tried to be objective and very focussed on the topic of Modi’s contributions to Sanatana Dharma, Bharatha & generally the world in general. I feel it is quite important and relevant to quote the famous quote from Anand Coomaraswamy : The biggest contribution that India (Bharatha) can make to the world is its Indianess (Bharatiyata) . This book is a commendable exercise in making us understand and appreciate our Bharatiya heritage a lot more and perhaps be inspired to make some adaptations as necessary in our daily lives. First, I would like to give a huge shout out to Sri. Prashanth Vitla who desi...

  Anandmath is considered as one of the classics in the annals of Indian literature. Written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee who gave us the immortal “Bande Mataram” or “Vande Mataram”, this novel transports the reader to Bengal of a different era with more existential crisis. I capture my experiences of reading this book from a literary perspective and sometimes the metaphorical ones. The prologue is short, yet cryptic. It sets the context for the story in the book to unfold and as one traverses the pages, we can relate to the metaphors captured in the prologue. The poems in the book including the famous “Bande Mataram” are exquisitely translated by Sri Aurobindo. The story is about a couple, a group of sanyasis who take up the struggle against the oppressing rulers to establish a new rule of land and how their achievements paves the path to establishment of British rule in Bengal. Personally for me, I find a lot of metaphysical concepts hidden in the narrative. For example, when Kal...

  Books open up an entirely new world to the reader. Some books come into one’s life quite accidentally or may be providentially. However, their impact could be far reaching and sometimes life long. It was an accidental conversation in a temple that led me to meeting & interacting with the author-publisher Sri. S. Suryaprakash Pandit. Conversations lead me to this book on perhaps a lesser known, but one whose works should be read and distributed widely, Anand Coomaraswamy (AKC). This review will be composed of 2 parts i.e. The introduction part by the author Suryaprakash Pandit and the main topic on AKC which is composed of 8 short essays. Though a small book in terms of pages, the same is rich in content and requires a lot of comprehension to understand the depths of the topics being discussed. The first sentence in the preface ( ಅಭಿಜ್ಞಾನದ ಮಾತು ) bowled me over. The author shares his experience in terms of the influence of 2 most revered writers (and rightly described as Rsis)...