"Victory City"
( by Salman Rushdie)
- Book Review
We hold a few things very dear to the heart. Each one of us has his own favourites, a favourite singer, a favourite actor,a book and so on. These things touch the core of our hearts. One such is a historical place which evokes deep feelings in many people. That is the erstwhile capital of Vijaya Nagar empire, Hampi.
So much has been written about the history of the place, glory of the place in its
heyday and its eventual tragic destruction. Not just books, its ruins themselves tell the
story of its splendour, its vast expanse and its power all of which ended suddenly in tragic destruction.
A few weeks back I happened to read a book about it, which is quite different from
whatever has been written about it. And the author is no less a writer than Salman Rushdie.
“Victory City” is the name of the book which is the name of the city in translation. The city is referred to as Bisnaga, Bis and Naga being the corrupted western forms of Vijay and Nagar.
Even the accepted version of the city’s real story sounds like a fairy tale. But Rushdie is no ordinary writer. He left his own imprint by creating a novel story by superimposing a heightened fantasy of a strange kind on the real history of Vijaya Nagar.
In this process, he villainizes revered saints, lampoons warriors and ridicules emperors.
This fantasy is based on an imaginary character he calls Pampa Kampana. As a little girl, she hears divine messages and acquires extraordinary powers. She will have to live a very long life spanning two and a half centuries! But the girl gets molested by the sage VidyaraNya, whom we all know to be the visionary and inspiration behind the creation of the empire. When did Rushdie care for the reputations of the characters?
The city gets created overnight by magic seeds sown by Hakka Raya and Bukka Raya (These were the actual brothers who started the kingdom), as per the dictates of the by then Eighteen-year-old Pampa Kampana, who has learnt to deal with life. Next the city population is created all through the same magic.
Pampa Kampana passes through several extraordinary vicissitudes through her long life, even as she witnesses and influences several successions of rulers. They get born, they become kings and then they grow old and die, but Pampa remains young and suffers it all.
Despite her special powers, she becomes a mother and watches her children grow old and die even while she remains young. When kings insist on the strict supremacy of tradition, she strives to implement liberalism and artistic freedom.
But all does not go well for her. She flees to the forest along with her kids. Her magic follows her there too.
Palace intrigues, wars, concubines, culture and Telugu poetry etc abound in the story but it is magic that overshadows them all and it is Pampa’s story as much as the city’s story throughout.
The great king Krishna Deva Raya is given due importance but here too, the mockery comes to the fore. He allows himself to be manipulated by the women of the zenana and Pampa herself.
Ultimately, the death of Krishna Raya leads to the weakening of the kingdom and its
destruction coincides with the demise of Pampa, who in her later years records the History of the Empire in verse and keeps it buried for future generations.
Rushdie is more read in the West than India. Western readers will find nothing to complain about in the story. It will be pure entertainment for them. But for us, particularly Telugu- Kannada readers it gives a bittersweet taste. We feel the pinch.
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@Clueless in Kashi:
Having seen Varanasi several years ago, we are tempted to visit again after all the development and beautification done recently.
(We have not yet planned. This post is about a 10 year old visit)
It reminds me of a painful incident that occurred during our previous visit.
From Dashashwamedh Ghat, we crossed the arch of the temple and were engrossed in the queer ambience of the bazaars. While nearing the temple, it was suggested that we deposit our mobile phones and chappals at a shop. We were in an ecstatic mood for the next hour or two and left the temple through the exit.
But where is the shop that we deposited mobiles? We had forgotten in the frenzy to observe the shop or the owner closely and just couldn't locate it.
We searched and searched and were getting exhausted in the mid day heat. Then, seeing our desperation, a man volunteered to help. He looked like a South Indian, short and emaciated with a wrinkled dhoti but spoke only Hindi. Now, our second round of the search started, all the three of us. He was taking us into various roads and gullies. We were moving in circles reaching the same starting point time and again.It was another exercise in vain. Exhausted, I lost my temper and asked him to get lost. He was irked and turned away and swiftly disappeared into the milling crowd. Then my wife rebuked me for sending away the poor fellow empty handed. "Ayyo, Paapam (pity him)", she said with a lament. After all he had spent so much time and energy for our sake!
Now our search began for the man, which too proved futile, but suddenly my wife identified the shop and there was immense relief.
But where is the poor fellow? Her eyes were tearful, increasing my guilt all the more. Some more search and we gave up. My wife, who was clutching a hundred note all the while, put it back in the purse reluctantly.
The withering look on his face and his very demeanor still sting.
Moral of the story: If you want to give something to somebody, do it then and there! If you delay, you may never get the chance again.
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@
KANTARA: A New dawn in Indian Cinema.
Going home from the Bus stand in an Auto, we passed by a cinema theatre which was showing Kantara. I was surprised by the auto driver’s statement. “I have seen it 10times, but still I am not satisfied”.
“What a narrative! It is so natural! Have you not seen, sir?” Fortunately, we had reached our house and I was spared the answer. But the next day, I did open the film on Prime, thinking that I would watch for a few minutes and then switch off, as is my wont with films on TV. But, once the film began, time was forgotten. Spellbound, I could not move from my chair even after the film was over. Of course, the film itself is based on a spell.
What makes the film so special? It is arguably one of its kind. It is like a breeze of fresh air in a cliche ridden cinema field. It extols the mystic element even while questioning social injustice.
Every character in the film is portrayed in depth, without the actor emerging out of it. The mystic element in it has its own rationale and not flimsy or merely sensational. The uncorrupted cultural ambience of the forest dwellers is quite revealing. Poverty has not made them shallow minded.
The violence and romance are portrayed without resorting to vulgarity.
Some film critics remarked adversely on the character of Leela, the heroine character to the effect that she lacked integrity. She is criticised for not being the stereotypical girl who would give a knee jerk reaction to every injustice.
To this, Leela herself has given the answer in a dialogue that people don't understand her situation. Neither do the critics.
If you have not seen the film, it is high time you did. The film heralds a new beginning in Indian cinema. It also proves that the average Indian viewer has come of age.
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Size matters:
I am talking about books.
It's a universally acknowledged fact that reading a book in its physical form is always more desirable than reading it in its digital format but when the book you have to read is quite big, handling it is a problem in itself.
The biggest book I have ever read is the novel 'War and Peace' which ran into nearly 1500 pages but it was 30 years ago and I had the strength to manage to hold it and read it. Moreover it was short in length, 7" perhaps.
Reading books on your mobile or a tablet or laptop has its own problems like eye strain but there is an exception. it's an altogether different experience to read books on a Kindle device. It is extremely light and the screen is quite cool. You can easily flip through the pages.
Recently I have undertaken the task of translating a huge Book into Telugu. It's very non cooperative in that it tends to close unless forced into position on the table with one hand. In such cases, the availability of an online version, preferably a kindle version would be a boon, but unfortunately all books are not available on line.
I wonder how busy writers manage this. I hope I am not being heretic in pointing out such a seemingly silly problem.
