Giovanni Guareschi, the Italian writer, created the character of Don Camillo, the hot-headed but lovable parish priest in a village on the Po valley. Active in parish affairs, he has to contend frequently with Peppone, the communist mayor of the village. Though ideologically at the opposite ends of the political spectrum, they are close friends & argue over their differences. The stories, set in post second world war Italy, & collected in a few volumes, though seemingly light hearted & trivial, hide spiritual truths inside.
Graham Greene also wrote about a Spanish priest, Monsignor Quixote, supposedly a descendent of the famous Don. He was plain Father Quixote, but a fortutous visit of a visiting bishop, made him a Monsignor, much against the wishes of his own bishop. His village of El Toboso (native place of the original Dulcinea) also had a communist mayor, defeated in the recent elections. The two leave the village in Quixote's battered old car, called aptly Rocinante. Their picaresque adventures form the subject of the book, ending with the protoganist's death. It was also made into a film, with Alec Guinness in the title role.
G.K.Chesterton's Father Brown again was a simple priest, but
a remarkable detective. His companion was the (retired?) master criminal, Flambeau. The priest's dumpy figure with his umbrella & clerical hat, is a memorable addition to a long line of amateur detectives like Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple & others.
"All that was good & living within us was made, shaped, & quickened by the British" - So goes the famous & controversial dedication to "The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian" by Nirad Chaudhuri.
Let us examine the facts which tend to support the above quote.
Alan Hume, the British ICS officer was known as the "Father of Indian National Congress" which later had luminaries like Gandhi & Nehru fighting for India's political independence.
Rev.William Hastie, ironically a clergyman told the future Swami Vivekananda about Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa & advised him to meet him, which later led to the resurgence of Hinduism on the global stage for the first time.
Later spreading of Hinduism globally was done in a spectacular fashion by Sri Satya Sai Baba, whose power was documented & presented to the world by writers led by Howard Murphet (Australia), John Hislop & Dr.Samuel Sandweiss (USA).
Even though Tagore won the Nobel Prize, it was the enthusiastic support of W.B.Yeats, which made him known world-wide.
Similarly Graham Greene's sponsorship made R. K. Narayan a known voice all over the world.
Though Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali" was very popular in Bengal, it's success in New York & Cannes, made Ray one of the all time greats of cinema.
The first LP record of Indian Classical Music by Ali Akbar
Khan had a spoken introduction by Yehudi Menuhin. His subsequent friendship of & collaboration with Ravi Shankar (not to mention Ravi Shankar's mentoring George Harrison) catapulted the Sitarist to dizzy heights of mega stardom.
In the very popular Hindi film "Rang de Basanti", it is the Colonial British Jailor's grand-daughter, who while making a documentary about the freedom fighters, ignites the latent patriotism among Indian youth.
a remarkable detective. His companion was the (retired?) master criminal, Flambeau. The priest's dumpy figure with his umbrella & clerical hat, is a memorable addition to a long line of amateur detectives like Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple & others.
