"Sabbatical" Literature

In 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne was employed at the Salem Custom House. At that time, even jobs like these were political appointments. So after elections, he lost his job. His wife Sophia told him this was the time to complete his dream book. She had some savings & she sold hand painted lamp shades & fire screens to pay house hold bills. She also offered him emotional support & later defended his literary legacy. The resulting book was "The Scarlet Letter", which many consider the most perfectly constructed novel. Interestingly, the prelude chapter on the Custom House runs to 50 pages whereas the main novel is less than 250 pages! 

Harper Lee was working as an airline ticket agent. Her friends, noticing her literary talent, gave her a Christmas gift in 1956, equal to her one year salary, to take time off & write whatever she wanted. The result was "To Kill A Mockingbird", a classic, also made into a famous film with Gregory Peck. The uniqueness of this book is the circumstances & central event are charged with racial & sexual overtones, but seen through the eyes of & narrated by Scout, a little girl who grows up from 6 to 9 years old during the events.

VEDANTA IN SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS

(The references are to the Act, Scene & Line number.)

ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie

Which we ascribe to heaven.(I,i,235)

A young man married

Is a man that is marred. (II,iii,315)

AS YOU LIKE IT.

O, how full of briers is this working day world! (I,iii,12).

Sweet are the uses of adversity. (II,I,12).

All the world is a stage. (II,vii,139)

Most friendship is feigning,

Most loving mere folly. (II,vii,181)

HAMLET

There are more things in heaven & earth, Horatio

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. (I,v,166).

I say, we will have no more marriages. (III,I,156)

Give me that man, that is not passion's slave,

And I will wear him in my heart's core. (III,ii,76)

Ophelia: 'Tis brief, my lord.

Hamlet: As woman's love. (III,ii,165)

There's a divinity that shapes our ends

Rough-hew them, how we will. (V,ii,10).

HENRY VIII

Cardinal Wolsey:

Had I but served my God with half the zeal 

I served my king, He would not in mine age, 

Have left me naked to mine enemies.

(III,ii,456)

KING LEAR

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is

To have a thankless child! (I,iv,312)

MACBETH

Life is a tale told by an idiot,

Full of sound & fury,

Signifying nothing. (V,v,17).

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

But man, proud man,

Drest in a little brief authority,

Plays such fantastic tricks before high heavens

As make the angels weep. (II,ii,117)

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

The quality of mercy is not strained,

It is an attribute of God himself. (IV, i,184)

How far that little candle throws his beams!

So shines a good deed in a naughty world. (V,i,90)

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Friendship is constant in all other things,

Save in the office & affairs of love.

(II,i,184)

OTHELLO

Fathers, from hence trust not your daughter's minds

By what you see them act. (I,i,171)

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

A woman moved, is like a fountain troubled,

Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty. (V,ii,143)

Who is a "Well-Read" Person?

The first & most important requirement is a love of reading & knowledge for its own sake, i.e., for pure pleasure. This rules out at once those who read to get degrees for recognition & then employment. Even persons having a string of degrees after their name (including doctorates) can by no means be considered "well read".

One of the distinguishing marks is complete absence of dogmatism in their opinions, especially in regard to religion or politics. This is because they will have read too many different valid viewpoints, freeing them from "tunnel vision." So they will be blessed with an open mind.

Another "give away" of being well read, especially with regards to literature, is usage of idiomatic language rather than just the correct one. Each language has its own unique idiom, which brings it to life. Also use of appropriate references to support & bolster one's statements. (Also proof of being really well read!)

Even people who are not well read, now have an itch to appear so & publish their writings. Instead of writing  on a subject which they love & have abundant knowledge, they start with zero knowledge or love of the subject, but start writing anyway, gathering material on the way. This type of "writing to order" just to get recognition, turns out insipid for obvious reasons, & would be recognised at once for what it is by well read persons.

Is Hinducentric view the only antidote to Eurocentric view?

Upto the middle of the twentieth century, it was common to take a world view through the prism of Eurocentricity. Here it is to be remembered that even in pre-Christian days, people like Socrates pioneered rational thinking. However, he was ahead of his time & was poisoned. Dante, in his "The Divine Comedy", placed him in the first circle of hell because he was not a baptised Christian. 

The Stoics, the most famous of whom was the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (author of "Meditations"), also propounded ideas similar to the later Buddhism. Hypatia, a Pagan philosopher, was torn to pieces by a Christian mob. However, Charles Kingsley, a Christian clergyman (& author of "The Water Babies") wrote an adulatory biography of her life & times.

Buddhism, with its ten perfections, belief in reincarnation & defining "Nibbana" (Nirvana) as the goal of life, offered an alternative to Hinduism. Jainism, with its 24 Thirthankaras (enlightened souls), also offers an alternative path, with emphasis on self-mortification.

So instead of polarising between Eurocentrism & Hindu centrism, it may be prudent for the well-read, who are aware of the preceding movements, to take a multi-centric view to arrive at a holistic approach towards understanding this world.

Worshippers & Lovers of God

It may be paradoxical but there is a world of difference between the two. The worshippers do so because they expect worldly benefits like health, wealth, power, status or progeny as a reward. Their true goal in life is to obtain the above by lawful (or even unlawful!) means & when they fail, worship God as an additional last resort. The quintessential examples are the politicians doing the "Temple Run" during critical phases of their careers.

As repeatedly noted in the Upanishads, Christ's teachings, & even in one instance in the Quran, humans cannot get "the peace beyond understanding" by the above. In fact they have to be abjured to get real peace. "Thou shall not serve both God & Mammon" admonishes the Bible.

The real lovers of God are those who give up everything, repeat EVERYTHING for God. The Hindu, Jain, Buddhist & Christian monastics (both monks & nuns) & the odd sufis like Rabia of Basra exemplify this truth. The sine qua non is to give up the most desired things & embrace voluntary poverty & celibacy & true love of God will follow.

Coconut & Areca nut trees: A Metaphor

To pluck coconuts, one has to climb the tree, pluck the nuts, slither down to the ground & repeat the process on the next tree. 

However, though the areca nuts are also located near the top of equally high trees, highly experienced climbers need not get down after plucking. 

Because of the relative slimness of the tree, their flexibility & closer planting to the next tree, after climbing up the first areca nut tree, reaching & plucking all areca nuts within reach, the climber need not clamber down.

He can sway the tree with his weight, bend & grasp the next tree near its top, get on to it & pluck its nuts. This process can continue with the next tree within reach, until the climber feels tired, when he can slither down that tree & reach the ground. By this means, the climber can avoid climbing down & clambering up each tree.

But human achievements in any field are like climbing a coconut tree. To achieve knowledge, one has to start from ground level & painstakingly work his/her way to the top. To master another discipline, one again has to start from ground zero. Eminence  in one field cannot be transformed to excellence in another, like jumping across the top of an areca nut tree.

One may master Law enough to become CJI & even enjoy music. But one cannot speak with the authority of a Pandit Ravi Shankar. A Scientific Advisor may enjoy watching cricket but cannot talk as if he is Sachin Tendulkar.

Entropy, Chaos & Yugadharma

Entropy is defined as the disorder or chaos within a physical system. It means that energy is not available to do useful work. Left to itself, the entropy of a system cannot decrease. It can only remain the same or increase. To decrease entropy, one has to import energy or do work.

Chaos also denotes a state of disorder.

In Hindu Cosmology, there are four yugas, Satya,Treta, Dwapara & Kali, where Dharma or righteousness is believed to gradually decrease. Adharma or unrighteousness may increase naturally if left unchecked, like entropy mentioned above.

In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says (Chapter 4, Verse 8) 

To protect the virtuous and 

To annihilate the wicked and

To re-establish Dharma,

I incarnate from age to age.

In Satya Yuga, 4 incarnations appeared, namely, Matsya, Kurma, Varaha & Narasimha. In Treta Yuga, Rama was the principal incarnation & in Dwapara Yuga, Lord Krishna. 

These can be interpreted as the external energy or work agents intervening to reduce entropy (or chaos) to save the world from extinction.

Work/Life Balance: An Alternative View

The first thing to be noticed is they are NOT interconnected. Life can exist without work (as we understand it) being performed whereas work cannot be done unless life is present. The whole of non-human life has gone on & will go on without the human race & their much vaunted "Work."

Also the term "Work" cannot strictly be ascribed to activity undertaken at others behest for monetary or social benefits, which can more accurately be called "servile work" or more brutally "slavery." Only activity taken up by self-motivation for creative or altruistic purposes can be truly defined as (Creative) "Work."

The second thing to be noticed is that the (only?) goal of human life (in civilisation) has been to reduce the work involved in any activity. This has been especially evident during the Industrial Revolution, when steam 

power & later use of fossil fuels & electrical power has been to reduce human work or to put it more bluntly, drudgery. The classic example being the mass manufacture of pins quoted in Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations." Such being the case, elevating "hard work" to an almost divine virtue, is ridiculous.

If this has happened to a great extent in manual & even skilled labour (eg: robotics), AI (Artificial Intelligence) promises to take it even further into activity involving "human?" Intelligence. This leaves only truly "Creative" activity in human hands (minds?). This may include artistic activity & thinking up new fields like calculus, fractals, quantum theory & the like, which were so thought of in the first place.

Musical Interpretations of "Romeo & Juliet"

Hector Berlioz's "Dramatic Symphony" called "Romeo et Juliette" Op.17, (H 79) received its first performance on 24 November 1839. It has seven movements & lasts 90 minutes. Many movements were predominantly vocal so generally only the instrumental sections are played on their own.

Charles Gounod's opera "Romeo et Juliette"  (with a French libretto) was first produced on 27th April 1867. It was an instant success, giving 89 performances & well received by critics. It has four duets for the star-crossed couple.

Tchaikovsky's work on "Romeo & Juliet" was called a "Fantasy Overture" which had its premiere on 16th March 1870. It plays for about 20 minutes & purely instrumental. It is actually a symphonic poem in Sonata form with an introduction & an epilogue. The main love theme was used in many movies & TV serials.

Prokofiev's Ballet on "Romeo & Juliet" was composed in 1935 & premiered in 1938. It is more than two hours long & has 52 sections. It has 11 pages dedicated to its story & analysis in the giant exhaustive work "The Classical Music Lover's Companion to Orchestral Music" by Robert Philip.