2) Aavarana: This is one of the famous and controversial novels by the celebrated Kannada novelist S.L. Bhairappa. This is the first ever Kannada novel that I ever finished. One of the main reasons that I am writing the review in English because of the significance of the matters those are discussed in the novel. It surpasses the boundaries of language and perhaps even nation.
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| S.L. Bhyrappa |
We have novels and many other works of art which have condemned the ill practices of Hinduism. The numbers are really huge. Some have gone to win prestigious awards. But do we see any single major work that criticizes the ill practices of Islam? The answer is an emphatic no. Definitely not in a country like ours which is filled with hypocrites who have mortgaged their lives to ideologies and fame at the cost of nation’s good. A part of this novel is a minor attempt in that direction (though the major part is about the history).
History as we know in India is a completely distorted one where the academia is in the stranglehold of the Marxists who warp history to fit it into their ideology. So an average person unless makes an effort to know the real facts, he/she never gets to know the real history at all in his/her life. This novel is a great attempt to present history as it is. It concentrates mainly on the Mogul rule. The novel is very aptly named as ‘Aavarana’ or ‘the veil’ that comes between the person who wants to know the history and the history. The real veil is historian himself/herself. So, it is a Herculean task to present history as it is without coloring. In that way, the novel is more like a historical book than a novel.
History as we know in India is a completely distorted one where the academia is in the stranglehold of the Marxists who warp history to fit it into their ideology. So an average person unless makes an effort to know the real facts, he/she never gets to know the real history at all in his/her life. This novel is a great attempt to present history as it is. It concentrates mainly on the Mogul rule. The novel is very aptly named as ‘Aavarana’ or ‘the veil’ that comes between the person who wants to know the history and the history. The real veil is historian himself/herself. So, it is a Herculean task to present history as it is without coloring. In that way, the novel is more like a historical book than a novel.
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| Aavarana - 'The veil' (Cover Page) |
A filmmaker (Lakshmi/Razia) who is a Hindu gets converted to Islam to marry her lover and also as a sign of rebellion against Hinduism much to the displeasure of her father. Prof. Shastri who gives pose as a secularist persuades her to change her religion to Islam. The character of Prof. Shastri is an apotheosis of modern day secularists and historians .The person whom she marries acts as a non-believer and sometime after the marriage uses the methods available in his religion to persecute her. Walls rise between the couples and they stay separately. Lakshmi’s father dies and Lakshmi goes to her native. There she sees a huge collection of historical books and notes made by her father. She decides to stay in the village and devote her time to the study of real history.
The story unfolds after she begins to read the books. Novel-within-novel technique is used in narrating the further story. She begins to write a story which happens in the mogul India. Her life progresses as we see the plight of today’s India. Two stories run in parallel. In the story she writes, through the character of a Rajput prince who then is forcibly converted to Islam (and assumes the name Khwaja Jahan) the history of mogul rule is shown. Their high intolerance towards other religions, seeing women as mere pleasurable objects, slavery, homosexuality, their fanatic behavior, destruction of hundreds of temples and further conversions into mosques, and many other things are shown in a vivid way. There should be something wrong in you if your blood doesn’t boil even once after reading the novel completely. Khwaja Jahan is castrated (made a eunuch called as ‘hijdas’) and used as a sex slave and traded in the market as any other commodity. The reader wonders whether the character symbolizes the modern day India which even though has a huge potential, it acts as if it is emasculated. The character knows what is right and what is wrong but it can’t act because of sheer helplessness. It reflects modern day India.
This book will be hated by intellectuals for sure who in the garb of promoting secularism are distorting the real facts and are doing a great disservice to the nation. They can’t digest this novel which is so raw. One of the main intentions of the novel is to face truth as it is. Truth doesn’t need any decoration. But do our people have the mettle to stomach it? I doubt it. Through this book, Bhairappa has stripped the false historians naked which in itself is a great thing in the present day India.
If someone is questioning the author’s credentials in talking about history, they should know that the author has not written any historical facts without being backed by research or necessary literary works. The huge list of bibliography at the end of the book is the testimony to the fact. The people who oppose this work should engage in a debate with the author regarding specific points which they disagree rather than resorting in character assassination of the author.
3) 7 habits of highly effective people: This is the most famous, celebrated work of leadership expert, an authority on principle-based leadership Stephen Covey. I read the book for the second time. Each time you read, you get a new perspective: that’s a classic. Having read many personality development books, I can say this is not just 'another' book. Among many personality development books around, this books goes deeper than them. As the author says in the beginning of the book “we can achieve quantum improvements in our lives as we quit hacking at the leaves of attitude & get to work on the root, the paradigms from which our attitudes and behaviors flow”. The book attempts that very honestly.
The story unfolds after she begins to read the books. Novel-within-novel technique is used in narrating the further story. She begins to write a story which happens in the mogul India. Her life progresses as we see the plight of today’s India. Two stories run in parallel. In the story she writes, through the character of a Rajput prince who then is forcibly converted to Islam (and assumes the name Khwaja Jahan) the history of mogul rule is shown. Their high intolerance towards other religions, seeing women as mere pleasurable objects, slavery, homosexuality, their fanatic behavior, destruction of hundreds of temples and further conversions into mosques, and many other things are shown in a vivid way. There should be something wrong in you if your blood doesn’t boil even once after reading the novel completely. Khwaja Jahan is castrated (made a eunuch called as ‘hijdas’) and used as a sex slave and traded in the market as any other commodity. The reader wonders whether the character symbolizes the modern day India which even though has a huge potential, it acts as if it is emasculated. The character knows what is right and what is wrong but it can’t act because of sheer helplessness. It reflects modern day India.
This book will be hated by intellectuals for sure who in the garb of promoting secularism are distorting the real facts and are doing a great disservice to the nation. They can’t digest this novel which is so raw. One of the main intentions of the novel is to face truth as it is. Truth doesn’t need any decoration. But do our people have the mettle to stomach it? I doubt it. Through this book, Bhairappa has stripped the false historians naked which in itself is a great thing in the present day India.
If someone is questioning the author’s credentials in talking about history, they should know that the author has not written any historical facts without being backed by research or necessary literary works. The huge list of bibliography at the end of the book is the testimony to the fact. The people who oppose this work should engage in a debate with the author regarding specific points which they disagree rather than resorting in character assassination of the author.
3) 7 habits of highly effective people: This is the most famous, celebrated work of leadership expert, an authority on principle-based leadership Stephen Covey. I read the book for the second time. Each time you read, you get a new perspective: that’s a classic. Having read many personality development books, I can say this is not just 'another' book. Among many personality development books around, this books goes deeper than them. As the author says in the beginning of the book “we can achieve quantum improvements in our lives as we quit hacking at the leaves of attitude & get to work on the root, the paradigms from which our attitudes and behaviors flow”. The book attempts that very honestly.
The author has presented the ideas of self improvements through 7 habits & has given many tools like the 4 quadrants of time management, functioning through principle centre, importance of personal mission statement, win/win attitude etc. The author has taken pain in the effort to explain all the concepts, tools that he has presented to the minutest details. This book deserves all the accolades that it has got.
4) Nano - The next revolution: This book is written by award winning scientific writer Mohan Sundara Rajan. This books talks about the progress of nano-technology over years and the potential it holds for the future. Though it claims it is for the lay-reader, I thought otherwise. Many concepts were bouncers. The nano-tachnology in the future envelops all our lives because all the major areas of science will be touvhed by it. If all goes well in the R & D in the field of Nano-technology, perhaps we can see the world as we see it in science fiction movies.
Add fountainhead, da vinci and monk who sold his ferrari to the list :)
ReplyDelete:) these are the books that i had read in the month of August :) :)i think you are referring to the books you'd read :D :D
ReplyDeleteI have the audio of '7 HoHEP'. You can collect it from me.
ReplyDeletei have it Phani :) thanks anyway :) :)
ReplyDelete