Talks and Articles

Hyderabad : Self Published. Pp. 136. Price Rs.80 / $ 5

(For copies see details at the end.)

A Rare and Engaging Book

Many books which carry critiques and talks will be full of dull and garbled opinions, but what we have here is a collection of fine, coherently expressed, satisfying essays and talks. Such compilations are few and far between; hence, this book gains great importance. As a careful reader, an insightful critic, a worthy teacher, a responsible writer, what C. Subbarao writes has an appealing, uplifting feeling. As Walt Whitman said, ‘the art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity,’ the simple, honest and lively language is strength to the book, adding vividness to it.

There are seventeen essays, four radio talks, one play with six scenes, and three Telugu poems rendered into English - a potpourri of different genres. Sometimes reading so many essays / talks can turn out to be daunting, but the felicity of this work makes it a pleasurable, educative, inspiring experience.

The foreword by the author’s daughter Dr. Vaidehi Sasidhar, deserves great appreciation. Like a beacon light, it leads the reader on, throwing light on many important aspects of the book. It is obvious she holds her father in high esteem and deservingly so. The vast range and depth of his work, she analyzes with a sharp ability, with a critical perspective, with a natural pride of a daughter - but all done with a conscientious approach. Her introduction has certainly added to the importance of the effort of bringing out such a book, giving concreteness to the purpose. It serves as a wide window to the realm of the evocative essays. She says ‘almost every article starts like a well-built compact staircase of an argument, ultimately leading to a solid conclusive critical judgment.’

Subbarao’s attentiveness to detail makes the readers more aware, intensifying the perception and revealing to them the underlying extraordinariness. He is focused as to reach the deepest layer – purity of attention made him comment very frankly and candidly, but his criticism is subdued not overtly harsh and condemning. Usually under a thin veil of appreciation, many critics use sarcasm surreptitiously, but without any wicked streaks of satire he points out with decorum – a sign of gentlemanly writing.

"Wordsworth as a nature poet," "Milton’s Adam and Eve," "Sarojini Naidu’s Poetry," "Lyrical mysticism of Tagore," "Keats Poetry," "Tilak – a true Poet," "Poetry- an approach" are some of the essays which deal with renowned poets and their poetry. The other absorbing articles, to mention a few, are "Moral values in Modern English Literature," "Educational excellence and contemporary constraints," "Justice in life and Literature."

It takes a kind of genius mind to extract the essence and provide a vision to others, by feeling and telling all that he found worth recounting and reflecting upon. His essay "Sri. K. Ramakotiswara Rao Garu as I knew him" is very endearing and touching. His reflections and revelations bring out poignantly the relation he shared with Kotiswararao garu, a ‘great humanist, aesthete and litterateur.’

A deeply felt gratitude for Literature, almost bordering on reverence we find in his essay entitled "Literature for solace." He conveys his feelings of mind and thought, conveying his natural love for literature and littérateurs, determined to celebrate his liking for the ‘written word’ in this essay. ‘Literature in concrete terms consists of great books in which life situations involving emotions and feelings, trials and tribulations, lofty ideals and noble dreams, joys and sorrows, successes and failures are presented convincingly so as to leave an abiding impression on the minds of the readers.’ ‘Literature offers us many things; delight, courage, enlightenment, solace and philosophical calm.’

It seems Subbarao has trained his mind to see in an intelligent, emotional and critical way the significant aspects of literary works and get connected in a sacred way before making his observations. The essay on "The Indo-Anglian Poetry of the Seventies" deals with the work of poets like Shiv K Kumar, Pritish Nandy, Kamala Das, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Nissim Ezekiel etc.

Another very important article is "Carrying the metaphor." He quotes Middleton Murray who said, ‘ever since the days of Aristotle, the commanding use of metaphor has always been considered the characteristic of greatest writing’ and goes on to explain how metaphor is more than an ornament, and that the intrinsic nature or a character of a thing reveals itself to a great writer when he / she is in a heightened mood of impassioned receptivity through parallelism. He also says that ‘even in critical prose writing, a commanding use of metaphor has an uplifting effect on the reader.’

"Frustrating Contrast" is an article which serves as a mouth piece to many a readers mind. We usually cannot separate a poet and his poem, but when there is a wide gap between them, it becomes hard for a conscientious reader to accept. For him, Robert Frost is a best-loved American poet and his poetry shows a divide so big, the negative traits in the poet’s personality overshadow the merit of his work. Explaining his predicament Subbarao writes, "if the author is a good person and his work lacks merit, our liking or respect for the author does not enhance our enjoyment of his work: on the contrary, if the author is one whom it is difficult for us to like as a man, but his work is good, meritorious, I am sure that our disrespect for the man takes away some of the intensity of our enjoyment of his work.’ I personally find this point very pertinent and agree with Subbarao’s opinion in toto.

Wherever possible, in many articles, Subbarao had shown his love and deep regard for the famous Telugu Poet Tilak, whom he calls as ‘a delightful solace on the poetic horizon,’ and says that ‘Tilak is adept at delineating a mood or an atmosphere through haunting word-pictures which achieve a graphic solidity.’ He pays his respectful tribute to the poet through his translation of his Telugu poems into English, which are appended at the end.

One finds another sublime trait in his work - wisdom, filled with a stability, an understanding – hence he could grasp the quintessence, to write in an absorbing, erudite way. While examining different genres and authors / poets, one needs to be accurate at highlighting strengths and weaknesses to give a close overview to the readers.

Proof checking is a bit shoddy, as in - ‘meening’ for meaning; ‘not only these, besides these,’ appear together - in proof check one would have gone, as both mean the same. Commas are missing in some sentences forcing the reader to re-read the sentences again. Given a chance, probably the author would re-write a few sentences, breaking them into shorter ones. These minor issues will be taken care of in the forthcoming editions I hope.

Written in an engaging and lucid style, this is an important volume contributing to the world of literature. The analyses of various dynamics of creative, pedagogic realms make for highly absorbing reading. This book will certainly add richness to the body of Indian literature, as a fount of resource.

(For copies – C. Subbarao, Plot No-118, Kamalanagar, Vanasthalipuram, Hyd-70 & Dr. Vaidehi Sasidhar, 1, Equinox Lane, Free Hold, 07728, New Jersey, USA).