Kanooru & Wessex.

Thomas Hardy & K. V. Puttappa (Kuvempu)

At the outset, it may be made clear that scholarly articles have been published on the subject. However, some personal views are presented here.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) & Kuvempu (1904-1994) both wrote novels about their respective countrysides. Hardy's "Wessex" novels are also noted for their beautiful language & restraint exercised by their characters in the face of adversity. But Kuvempu, in his most celebrated novel, "Kanooru Heggadithi",  chose to employ Rabelaisian language in the dialogue of his rural characters, possibly to emphasize their rustic origin. It is to be noted that Hardy saw no reason to use this device to place his characters in rural milieu. The result makes one wonder whether Kanooru villagers were less civilised than Wessex villagers!

But the same Kuvempu, in his magnum opus "Ramayana Darshanam" used lofty thoughts & language even in the negative characters, ennobling them even in their villainy. It is to be pointed out that even the great Valmiki himself did not do this. In this context, the episode of Indrajith's child is especially charming. Of course, Kuvempu was criticised for making everyone good.

Spiritual significance of Chivalry

Chivalry is the exaggerated consideration & respect shown by a man towards a woman. If one considers deeply the meaning of this, it is Providence's way of making the man pay homage to the woman for shouldering the onerous responsibility for propagating the species.

In the case of the Madonna, it is the respect paid her for bringing the Saviour of the Christians into the world. In the middle ages, the knights were engaged in crusades & other wars. In their absence, the Lady of the House held the fort as it were, keeping the domestic machine running. This also reinforced her Madonna-like status among the domestics.

This gradually transformed itself into "courtly love" where valiant deeds performed by the knights were dedicated to the lady of their choice, the most well-known being Don Quixote dedicating his deeds to Dulcinea del Toboso. Of course, there were exceptions like the Knight Templar Bois de Gilbert in Ivanhoe casting covetous eyes on the fair Jewess, Rebecca.

Remarkable stability in book prices.

About 70 years ago, when I was a small boy, my first English book "Pinocchio" was bought for me. My mother read it to me as I was too young to read English then. It was an ordinary (imported) paperback & I had written the price on the title page as one & a half rupee.

The price of a sovereign was about Rs.20 then & a family could live comfortably on the same amount per month. Assuming the price of a sovereign now as Rs.30,000 & (optimistically) estimating monthly expenses of a family to be the same, the price of an imported paperback should now be more than Rs.2000! Though many books cost the same now, many more are priced even lower! So we can conclude that cost of books (as a fraction of Gold or expendable income) has actually reduced in real terms!

The same holds good for music also. A record holding 6-7 minutes of music would cost Rs.3, which would translate to more than Rs.4000 now, whereas an LP or CD holding 40-70 minutes music (of much better sound quality) would definitely cost less.

So as Dickens said now is "The best of times & worst of times" also!