"Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
It reminded me of a poem we did in class - Prospice by Robert Browning. Written after his wife, Elizabeth B Browning died, he looks forward to death in the poem, but sees it not as succumbing to an inevitable end, rather as a fight against an enemy. A powerful poem. Ofcourse Browning has been a poet I've enjoyed reading ever since College days, so it goes without saying that I would like this one too...
On to other things - I just finished reading 'Looking For Maya' by Atima Srivastava. No, I didn't pick it up becasue of the common surname, no, she's not a distant relative or anything. I had heard of her last year when we studied Diasporic writers for Contemporary British Literature. Then Preeti happened to mention that she had the book because of this seminar they had for MA (I) students ( personal grouse - why couldn't MA (II) students attend that seminar?)...anyways I took all three books that were dealt with: 'Looking for Maya' by Atima Srivastava, 'Anita and Me' by Meera Syal (I've seen the movie.) and 'Glassblower's Breath' by Sunetra Gupta. I read this one first since I've heard so much about it. It's a book about a young girl's search for her identity. An interesting read - you can finish it at one reading. Here's how the novel starts:
"Sipping an espresso, I stretched out my legs in the sunlight. All around me, people were babbling in different languages, students, tourists. The waiter in his crisp apron carried precarious coffees to the tables set on the pavement. Behind me, I could hear the Italian football on the big screen, inside the café and I felt inexplicably happy. The final examinations were over, the long Summer: yawned before me and I had a feeling that I was going to live and live. "
I'm going to post a review on Literary Mosaic - do browse and if you can pick the book up and read it. It's a recommendation for sure.
Gotta rush now. Got a meeting with Prof Lange at 3 pm today at the Campus - to iron out last formalities of the exchange program. He's in Mumbai only for 2 days before proceeding on to somewhere else for more important work. It's only 10.09 am, but I intend to sit in the Library and get some work done before the meeting...so ciao for now...shall be back...
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