October 28 is indeed special. Wanna know why? Well, it is dedicated to Mahrishi Valmiki. It is supposed to be his birth anniversary. Not to worry. I am not going to get in to the debate regarding his birth. Well, I have not read enough about this issue. Unless I have myself looked up all the references, I never get in to the identity politics kinda debates.
My focus, moreover, is absolutely different. In my opinion, Mahrishi Valmiki is the foremost author who establishes beyond doubt both the vibrancy and primacy of literature, however much most people may snigger at it as irrelevant in the torrid times today.
Literature, as the epic Ramayana proves, blooms out of a deeply moving episode. Remember the first shloka of the Ramayana? "Ma nishad: tvam..." proves how literature has empathy as its very base. Hence the relevance of literature in the heartless, soul-lacking era now.
This first ever shloka of Sanskrit literature, moreover, has at least two meanings which proves essentially the open, democratic nature of literature. No epic, no novel, no play, no poem, however realistic, would ever have one and one and only one meaning. There would always be layers after layers of meaning which would open up as per the reader's capacity. Indeed "as many readers, as many interpretations" is the versatile depth of literature. In other words, literature makes a reader a creator as well. Once again, such creativity is seminally needed in the ChatGPT kinda of times today.
Literature, moreover, creates for us paradigms of ethics, the ideals we can follow, as in the "Ramayana", and literature attempts it in the most indirect, non-didactic way. Literature thus enriches the reader deeply, but most subtly.
The real value of literature is that such enhancement reaches us most artistically. Once the metre of the epic was set with "ma nishad: ", faultlessly followed it was! Such sound design, the figures of speech, the rhetorical weave of literature are truly subtle, and yet very effective.
Ever youthful, literature, moreover, is an individual oriented art. Unlike music, drama or films, it is not a group activity in the making. A book, a reader and a cup of coffee with a pet silently snoozing at your feet can create a brilliant universe which vicariously exposes all the villainies of the real world, and yet empowers the innocent vision that makes life worth living.
Well, i can go on and on and on about how words create worlds. Given this fecundity of literature, this tribute to the "epic" author!
Pratima@ "Literature irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become," says C.S. Lewis
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