Inspiration from the Banks of the Indus River:
A Conversation with Nibir K. Ghosh
By Robin Lindley
It’s been a season
of uncertainty and dread in the United States as we contend with a deadly
global pandemic, a reckoning with centuries of racism, bitter political
divisions, historic environmental disasters, and an unraveling of national
institutions, among other challenges.
For another perspective on history
and for words of encouragement, I consulted distinguished Indian author,
scholar, editor, and public intellectual Professor Nibir K. Ghosh, a recognized
and reliable source for knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration.
In a lively dialogue by email, we recently discussed
Professor Ghosh’s background, his literary study and works, and his thoughts on
history and current events. He generously shared his views on the situation in
India and its history as that huge nation now struggles with COVID-19 and
approaches the number of cases and death that the US grimly has attained. And,
with his background in American studies and his academic work in the US, his
insights on our history and culture are particularly astute and timely.
Beyond
the sweep of history and this fraught moment, Professor Ghosh shares insights
on the writers and thinkers he studies. His new collection of essays and other
writing, Mirror from the Indus, is a treasure trove of his words and wisdom
with timeless relevance. For instance, note the resonance now of his comments on
the lives and work of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And,
Professor’s Ghosh’s vision of the interconnectedness of all people in One World
without discrimination is particularly instructive and inspiring today as both
of our nations face the future with anxiety, ambivalence, and guarded hope.
Dr.
Ghosh, D.Litt., is a UGC
[University Grants Commission] Emeritus Professor and former Head, Department of English Studies & Research, Agra
College, Agra, India. An eminent scholar and critic of American, British and
Post-Colonial literatures, he has published over 180 articles and scholarly
essays on various political, socio-cultural and feminist issues in reputed national
and international journals.
Professor
Ghosh is also the founder and chief editor of Re-Markings (www.re-markings.com), an international
biannual journal of research in English that has completed nineteen years of
publication. Besides Mirror from the Indus, Professor Ghosh is the
author of 14 other acclaimed books including Gandhi and His Soulforce Mission: Charles Johnson: Embracing the
World; Multicultural America: Conversations with Contemporary Authors;
Calculus of Power: Modern American Political Novel; Shaping Minds: Multicultural Literature; W.H. Auden: Therapeutic Fountain and Perspectives on Legends of American Theatre.
Professor Ghosh was awarded the
prestigious Senior Fulbright Fellow at the University of Washington, Seattle during
2003-04. He is currently on the Review Panel of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States
(MELUS) published by the University of Connecticut, and the African American Review, the Quarterly International Journal on Black American Literature and
Culture of the Modern Language Association. During
1992-96, he was the Executive Member of the Board of Directors for the American
Studies Research Centre (ASRC) in Hyderabad. Funded by the US government, the
Centre was one of the most important institution for American Studies outside
of the United States. For two consecutive terms, in 1992 and 1994, Dr. Ghosh
was elected to the ASRC Board with an overwhelming majority, an unprecedent
achievement in the 40-year history of the organization.
In 2018, The Osmania University Centre for International Programmes, Hyderabad,
conferred upon Professor the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Centennial
celebrations of Osmania University.
Professor
Ghosh’s blogs www.nibirkghosh.blogspot.com and www.elsaindia.blogspot.com reflect
his curiosity and his constant engagement with society, polity, culture, and
more.
Robin
Lindley: It’s a pleasure to hear from you Professor Ghosh about your work and
your fascinating new book Mirror from the Indus. You’re a distinguished
professor and scholar of literature and history as well as a public
intellectual in India. How did your family and early schooling lead you to your
career pursuits? Did you have some especially influential teachers and
professors?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
Thank you for your keen interest in my work, especially in Mirror from the
Indus.
When
I look back from the vantage point of the present moment at my early childhood,
I can easily recall how fond I have always been of reading for pleasure and wisdom.
To my father, who served in the Indian Air Force, I truly owe the incessant
urge to fall in love with words and ideas that came from reading fairy tales,
illustrated comics, classical tales of adventure, stories of revolutionary
heroes, pictorial books on Indian History etc. that I would receive from him as
gifts. From my mother’s zeal in performing her pujas (worship), I
developed an early interest in spiritual stories. As a student my favorite
subjects were English, Science and Mathematics. I had my initial schooling in
Air Force School in Delhi before the family moved to Agra where I joined the
Air Force Central School.
In
those days it was customary for bright students to have either Engineering or
Medicine as appropriate career options. I fondly remember how my English
teachers would always encourage me to participate and represent my school in
debate, essay writing and elocution contests. When I stood first in V class,
our principal, Mrs. I. Montes, gifted me King Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table retold by Phyliss Briggs, a story that impressed me a great
deal. However, you will be surprised to know that teaching as a career never
figured in my wildest imagination. After my schooling, I did my graduation in
Science from Agra College, Agra (founded in 1823 during the British rule).
While doing my graduation I joined the Coca Cola company as a Chemist for a
while.
It
was after my graduation that I was in dilemma whether to go in for M.Sc. in
Physics or for M.A. in English literature. After a good deal of deliberate reflection,
I finally opted for the latter. Though I had been reading literature for enjoyment
for years, the post-graduation course opened a completely new universe because
I was able to see in what I read the inevitable connection between literature,
history, society and polity of numerous nations and cultures. When my name
appeared in the merit list of the University, I began to receive offers of appointment
as a Lecturer in English. That is how I entered the teaching profession. I had
no regrets of not going for more lucrative jobs because the opportunity to
teach literature gave me the happy satisfaction of being able to combine my
vocation and avocation.
Robin Lindley: That sounds like
the ideal career choice. What was the subject of your doctoral dissertation and
what did you learn from that study?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
The topic of my Ph.D. work was “W. H. Auden: From Communism to Christianity.”
My doctoral work was a very exciting experience. It gave me access to a totally
new way of looking at events, ideas and personalities beyond the limited
confines of what I had been hitherto reading. It introduced to me the importance
of interdisciplinary perspectives.
In
connection with my work I visited on a regular basis the British Council and
American Center libraries in New Delhi and had long periods of stay at the
American Studies Research Center at Hyderabad. The study of Auden’s poems made
me delve into the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression of 1929, the Weimar
Republic in Germany and the emergence of Hitler, the Spanish Civil War
culminating in World War II, Existentialism as a philosophy, Psychology from
Freud and Jung to Langland, besides various nuances of Christianity, all of
which seemed necessary to get the right perspective to studying the writings of
Auden.
Robin Lindley: How do you see the
arc of your career from professor and author and now to chief editor of your ambitious and lively
periodical on the arts and culture, Re-Markings?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
I see a natural evolution in the ‘arc’ of my career from a teacher to author to
the Chief Editor of Re-Markings.
As
a teacher I enjoyed interacting with my students and in motivating them to see
how the narratives they read were relevant to the lives they lived. My
participation in seminars and conferences on a regular basis brought me into
close contact with scholars and academicians from different parts of India and
abroad.
Right
from the time I joined the teaching profession, I got many opportunities for
publishing my work in magazines and periodicals of repute. On many occasions it
had struck me that I should do something in return for all the valuable space
that my writings got in prestigious publications. That is how Re-Markings
was born in March 2002 as an International biannual Journal of English Letters.
I felt happy to provide a forum to aspiring scholars, academics, poets and
critics to express their concerns.
It
is difficult to believe how time flies as in March 2021 Re-Markings is
slated to complete 20 years of its publication. As for the international
outreach and the prestige the journal enjoys, you are in a better position to
judge. In starting and continuing the publication from Agra, I must acknowledge
the ideational and graphic support and guidance I have constantly received from
its Executive editor, Sandeep Arora.
Robin Lindley: Much of your
writing and research concerns British and American literature and history. What
sparked this focus?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
My writings and research in British literature began with the study of authors
and works prescribed in the master’s program and continued unabated to the
study of Auden and beyond. In my M.A. course we had a special paper on Modern
American Literature that introduced me to writers like Emerson, Walt Whitman,
Mark Twain, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller,
Eugene O’Neil and others.
My
knowledge of American History largely evolved from a course I attended at the
American Studies Research Center, Hyderabad in 1978. The one-month long course was
titled “Looking for America.” The faculty comprised distinguished professors
from American universities in the domain of Literature, History and Culture.
One professor, John G. Cawelti from Chicago University and author of The Six
Gun Mystique, became a close friend. The discussions I had with him, when
he visited Agra, and later through correspondence, proved very valuable in my
enhancement of the knowledge of American literature and history.
Robin Lindley: What’s it been
like for you to live and work in the romantic city of Agra, home of the Taj
Mahal—a tribute to love? You rhapsodize about the remarkable city in your writing
about the literary giant Rabindranath Tagore and in other work.
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
Living, studying and teaching in Agra has been an enriching experience. Agra,
having been the center of Mughal rule, is steeped in History. The monuments
like the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Fatehpur Sikri etc. make you feel a part of a
bygone era. It is from Fatehpur Sikri that Emperor Akbar preached his
philosophy of Sulaha Kul or the essential oneness of all religions. I
used Rabindranath Tagore’s poem on Shajahan to say that if a poet could give
eternal life to a monument made in alabaster, how greater must be his ability
to give vibrancy to the nameless toiler and tiller of the land.
Robin Lindley: In addition to
your writing on literature, you have an excellent grasp of history and the
context of the works you study. How do you see the role of history in your
research and writing?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
I have always believed that no matter how much we talk about art for arts’ sake
kind of writings, literature isolated from history and culture cannot exist on
its own. An extensive study of the relationship between American history,
literature and politics became the focus of my book Calculus of Power:
Modern American Political Novel published 1997. In this book I have
examined American literature from the perspectives of Economics, War, Women
Empowerment, Race, and American Justice on Trial. While engaged in this
expansive project, I made an in-depth foray into the history of the foundation
and subsequent making of America into a super power.
Robin Lindley: Your new book, Mirror
from the Indus, presents a collection of your essays, tributes and memoirs.
How would you like to introduce this remarkable collection to new readers?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
That’s an interesting question. The endorsements on the beautiful cover by
celebrities like Ethelbert Miller, Dr. Tijan M. Salah and professor Jonah
Raskin are bound to evoke great expectations in new readers. I would like to
say that they will most likely find in my select writings a wide-ranging
variety of themes, personalities and concerns.
By
exploring and examining the life and work of a very eclectic list of writers,
poets, social reformers, spiritual giants, revolutionaries, freedom fighters,
monarchs, statesmen, artists, and intellectuals, I have tried to show that
compassion and sensitivity to human concerns, the ability of individuals to be
the change they wish to see in the world, the courage and the grit to challenge
the status quo, defending the right of
individuals to exist as individuals, the ordinariness of the extraordinary
pursuits of enlightened humans in the terrain of all the temporal as well as
universal, are bound to keep them riveted to the collection.
Robin Lindley: The book is a gift
to readers. I enjoyed the essays in your new book, and the introduction to
several writers and scholars who were new to me. A subtitle for Mirror
could be something like Writing Without Borders.
In
the introduction, you describe this anxious time during a deadly global
pandemic, and conclude that section with this inspiring sentence: “Let us all
come together as members of One World to fight and defeat the forces of
pestilences and usher in a glorious Republic of peace, prosperity and happiness
without any discrimination.” It’s obvious that transcending boundaries is
important to you. How can the humanities, the arts, help do this?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
Thank you for enjoying reading through Mirror. Yes, I agree that in
keeping with the contents of the book, ‘Writing Without Borders’ could very
well be taken as a subtitle.
I
have always believed from my own experience of interface with people from
different communities, religions, nations, cultures and the like, that innately
there is in all of us a craving for a world without borders. It is only when we
begin to get out of what Robert Frost calls the “Mending Wall” syndrome that
real communication takes place in a spirit of easy give and take. I may cite
from my own life as a case in point. I was born in Poona (now Pune), the land
of the Maratha ruler Shivaji, into a Bengali household. My mother tongue is
Bengali. I have lived in the Hindi heartland most of my life. My wife ( to whom
I have dedicated the book) is a Punjabi. I have felt hugely enriched by not
restricting myself to particular climes and regions be it national or
international. I have loved and enjoyed reading Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway
as much as Anton Chekhov, Albert Camus or Gabriel Garcia Marquez. If you look
at the titles – “Beyond Boundaries.” “Embracing the World,” “Shaping Minds,”
“Erasing Barricades,” Multicultural America” etc. – of many of the books that I
have authored and edited, you may notice that harmony and oneness constitute
the essence of my creative and critical endeavors.
As
an instance of my approach to overcoming prejudices and stereotypes, I would
like to share an experience with a Pakistani gentleman. On my return home from
the Fulbright tenure at the University of Washington, Seattle, I received a
call from one Zeeshan-ul-hassan Usmani requesting me to edit a collection of
essays written by Fulbrighters from India to America and from America to India.
Considering the enormity of the task and constraints of time, I said no. In the
next minute, Zeeshan said that could I reconsider my decision in the light of
the fact that his mother hails from Agra. I had no alternative. I named the
collection Beyond Boundaries. The arts and the humanities can go a long
way to create bridges between cultures. In 2017, Re-Markings brought out
A World Assembly of Poets as its signature Special Number, guest-edited
by Dr. Tijan M. Sallah. The contributors included poets from all the five
continents and over sixty countries. Even a cursory glance at the volume will
convince you how only in the true Republic of Poets all demarcations separating
one individual from the other can disappear.
If
you look at the list of contents in Mirror from the Indus, you may
notice that the figures taken into account are from various communities,
religion and culture: Hindu, Brahmin, Dalit, Muslim, Sikh, Jew, Christian,
Anglo-Indian, French, Canadian, British and what have you.
Robin
Lindley: Your work brings light and pulses with your love of humanity and
justice. Do you consider yourself a humanist?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
Yes, obviously. It is not a crime, I guess, to profess the love of humanity and
justice.
In
our own era, from a pragmatic point of view, it may be gainful to avoid clichés
like justice and human values because the majority always tends to remain in the
mainstream and go with the flow of the current but I strongly agree with Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s statement that “our life begins to lose meaning the
day we become silent about things that matter.” I learnt very early from my
experiences in several roles, that if one decides to fight for justice at any
level one must learn to conquer both ‘temptation’ and ‘fear.’ I have always
tried to portray this through my own actions and through all my writings, talks
and lectures.
Robin Lindley: Your writing reflects
those values. And, in your writing and well researched articles, you make me
want to read and learn more, particularly from the authors and books you cite.
You spark further research and thinking. Is it fair to call you a literary
activist?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
If activists are not identified with any flag-carrying activities, I would not
mind being called a literary activist. Each issue of Re-Markings in its
20-year journey has remained committed to its manifesto of highlighting broad
socio-political and cultural issues of human import so as to promote harmony
through healthy interactive discussions and debates. Even when I am lecturing
or delivering a talk to audiences comprising the youth, I remain focused on
what each of us can do in our individual capacities to reduce discrimination,
disparity and prejudice that create yawning gulfs among one individual or group
and another.
Robin Lindley: Bridging gulfs
between people is a noble goal in today’s world. In your tribute to Mahatma Gandhi
and his relevance now, you note how he influenced the likes of President Barack
Obama and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who called Gandhi’s influence “inescapable.”
What do you think Dr. King meant?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
Please allow me to cite the words of Barack Obama on Gandhi that I have used in
my tribute to Gandhi in Mirror: “He (Gandhi) inspired Dr. Martin Luther
King. . . if it hadn't been for the non-violent movement in India, you might
not have seen the same non-violent movement for civil rights here in the United
States. . . He was able to help people who thought they had no power realize
that they had power, and then help people who had a lot of power realize that
if all they're doing is oppressing people, then that's not a really good
exercise of power."
Dr.
King had reiterated that Gandhi had “lived,
thought, and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world
of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk.”
In a world torn by conflict and violence, Gandhi’s ideals of
“truth and non-violence” may seem at times quite anachronistic but there is
much logic in his simple observation that “an eye for an eye would make the
whole world blind.” As a politician, Gandhi may have made mistakes but as a
mortal he continued to perform his experiments with truth till the very end of
his life.
Robin
Lindley: You’re well acquainted with the lives of Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi
and others who have worked for social justice and tolerance. To help readers
understand their strategy in working for justice, how do you think nonviolent
resistance now might advance the dismantling of systemic racism in the US—and
perhaps quell the political and religious friction in India?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
That’s a complex question. In order to dismantle the solid structures of
systemic racism in US and political and religious friction in India on the
lines of Martin Luther King and Gandhi, it is necessary that leadership must
spring from the youth who will be able to project and guard the interests and
concerns of their respective communities without bothering about promoting
their own vested self-interests.
Mindsets cannot be changed with
speeches and slogans; they can be broken only through sterling acts of
self-sacrifice. Gandhi was forthright in pointing out in the
“Introduction” to his Autobiography that “My experiments have not been
conducted in the closet, but in the open…. My purpose is to describe
experiments in the science of Satyagraha, not to say how good I am. In judging
myself I shall try to be as harsh as truth, as I want others also to be.” What is
relevant to caste/race applies equally to religion.
Robin
Lindley: You comment on many literary giants in your new book with sensitivity
and understanding. I loved the jungle stories and other writing of Rudyard
Kipling when I was young but later came to see him, as George Orwell did, as a
hidebound British jingoist and imperialist and thus ignored his writing. You
have a more thoughtful and nuanced view. How do you see Kipling’s writing?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: I do not wish to contest your
dislike of Kipling and his writings but do allow me to point out that George
Orwell, in the same remark that you allude to, admitted that “During five literary generations
every enlightened person has despised him, and at the end of that time
nine-tenths of those enlightened persons are forgotten and Kipling is in some
sense still there.”
In
my view, in spite of Kipling’s jingoistic imperialism, he commands admiration
of readers by his sensitive approach to human problems. For over a century
now, Rudyard Kipling’s poetic utterance, “Oh, East is East, and West is West,
and never the twain shall meet,” has been used time and again, both in and
out of context, by all and sundry to define visible boundaries that demarcate
civilizations characterized by the East and the West. Consequently, I thought
of doing a bit of research to find out what led Kipling to draw such an
inference.
It
is indeed ironical that Kipling’s most misunderstood statement is generally
used by those who have probably not read the poem at all. Through a single
line, they are quick to conclude that there exists an unbridgeable gulf between
the two civilizations – one supposedly ultramodern and the other gradually
rising out of a relatively primitive past. Endowed by the bliss of ignorance,
they tend to ignore, perhaps deliberately, the true import of Kipling’s
observation that does not end with the line mentioned above but goes on to the
length of a full quatrain that reaffirms human belief in synthesis and
synchronicity by cutting across cultural barriers. The quatrain with which
Kipling’s 1892 poem, “Ballad of East and West,” begins and ends reads thus:
Oh, East is East, and West is West,
and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of
the earth.
In my piece on Kipling in Mirror
I have shared my inference that Kipling sees the relationship between the ruler
and ruled not permanently confined to master/slave binaries but one that can,
through courage and daring, meet on the level ground of equality.
In both spirit and flesh Kipling’s poetic
statement ought to transform those who espouse
the idea that civilizations should never mix and that cultural barriers are
insurmountable. In the present era of communication and satellite revolutions
it may be futile and superfluous to imagine that “mortal millions” should remain
isolated and “alone” in inviolable cultural isles of their own. Also, you may
have noticed from your reading of The Jungle Book how
Kipling draws our attention to ways and means to deal with the environmental
crises that we are now facing.
Robin Lindley: Thank you for
those comments on Kipling’s still relevant words. In discussing the work of Somerset
Maugham, you state: “Above all, Maugham has succeeded in demonstrating through The
Moon and Sixpence that masterpieces are eternal contemporaries of mankind
and have value and significance beyond the immediate confines of a particular
moment in history.” How do you see “the confines of history”?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
Frankly speaking, what drew me to The Moon and Sixpence by Somerset
Maugham was my deep interest in the life of Paul Gauguin. In school, I had read
somewhere that when Gauguin had gone nearly bankrupt after quitting his job as
a stock-broker in Paris, and his wife had scorned him saying that if his
paintings couldn’t even buy some medicines and a glass of milk for their ailing
son, they were really worth nothing. Gauguin had calmly accepted that, though
she was right then, yet his paintings would someday adorn the Louvre Museum in
Paris.
Somerset
Maugham’s fictional biography reminds us that though, striving for the ‘Moon’,
Paul Gauguin may have landed himself with only ‘Sixpence’ in his lifetime, but
what is significant is how posterity has acknowledged his immortal creations.
My
reference to “the confines of history” suggests that immortality of an artist
can never be judged by contemporary appraisal of art but must await the
continuous assessment of time beyond the immediate moment in history.
Robin Lindley: I enjoyed your
tribute to the renowned English poet W. H. Auden, the subject of your
disseratation. You write that Auden, though not a church-going Christian, saw
the teachings of Jesus as “a strong reaction against the evil and absurdity of
class and racial prejudice.” What did Auden see in the words of Jesus?
Professor Nibir Ghosh:
Thanks for your appreciation of my tribute to W. H. Auden in Mirror from the
Indus. Auden’s views and his interpretations of Christianity are both
descriptive and prescriptive. His prose pieces are as elaborately concerned
with Christianity as his poetic outpourings.
In
numerous essays, Auden explores the theme of Christianity in its essence and
tries to relate its relevance to man’s needs in contemporary society. For
Auden, even a bleak
post-war landscape attains significance when viewed through the perspectives of
a Christian world. Though the chaotic conditions exist yet there is an
undercurrent of hope that the situation is redeemable.
Auden considers God to be “the cause and
sustainer of the universe” and says that “our real desire is to be one with Him.
. . Ultimately that is the purpose of all our actions.” He demands that God
should be invoked to restore order and meaning to the universe: “Let us praise
our Maker, with true passion extol Him/ For, united by His word, cognition and
power, / System and Order, are a single glory.”
Auden affirms the value of faith and what
it can achieve. He extols the idea of faith in a world devoid of spiritual
values. In his personal life too, Auden was wholly devoid of self-importance or
pretentiousness, and he often revealed a humility that was both deep and
genuine. Kindness and generosity were traits of his individual behavior.
On the basis of faith in God, Auden is
able to assess the nature of ‘Love’ in a deeper and more precise manner. It is
my strong assumption that Auden believed in the solitary and silent mode of
praying and not in prayer as a spiritual exercise. He criticized the sectarian
spirit displayed by the churches but honestly believed in the quintessence of
Christianity. Christianity, for him, stood for something more profound than the
celebration of empty ceremonials.
Robin
Lindley: You’re a friend of award-winning author, professor, public
intellectual, and all-around brilliant scholar and artist Charles Johnson, a
University of Washington professor emeritus. You wrote a book about his work, Charles
Johnson: Embracing the World, with American poet and literary activist E.
Ethelbert Miller. You also worked with Professor Johnson at the UW. How did you
come to work with him and how do you see his place in the pantheon of American
literary figures?
Professor Nibir Ghosh: Many years ago, when the Public Affairs Section of U.S. Embassy, New
Delhi, informed me that Charles Johnson—author of Middle Passage, Oxherding
Tale, Dreamer etc., a MacArthur Fellow and winner of the National Book
Award—was visiting India on a lecture tour, and that I was to accompany him in
India, I was thrilled by the prospect of interviewing him against the backdrop
of the Taj Mahal. My enthusiasm did not last long as his visit did not
ultimately materialize on account of the Iraq war. Perhaps Fate had
ordained that we would meet not in Agra but at the University of Washington,
Seattle.
Initially,
when I was awarded the prestigious Senior Fulbright Fellowship, my choice as
the place of work was City University New York with Professor Morris Dickstein
as my faculty associate. When I was given an additional option by CIE in
Washington, DC., I decided to join the University of Washington as my project
was on contemporary African American Writings, with Charles Johnson as my
faculty associate.
Two days after settling down at an
apartment at Furman Avenue (thanks to the kind courtesy of professor Richard
Dunn, HOD English), we were pleasantly surprised to see at our dwelling none
but the famed Charles Johnson himself who, accompanied by his daughter
Elizabeth, came to visit us. I warmly welcomed him by wrapping a shawl around
him as we honor scholars in
My frequent long conversations with him contributed significantly
to my understanding of the nuances and complexities of certain basic issues
confronting contemporary America and also inspired me to engage in fruitful
conversations many other celebrities within and beyond Afro-America.
We were truly privileged to be introduced by Charles to August
Wilson who invited us to dinner at the Broadway Grill. The animated exchanges
that I had with authors like August Wilson, David Guterson, Octavia Butler,
Jonah Raskin, Ethelbert Miller, Kathleen Alcala and others besides Charles
Johnson, flowered into a precious collection titled Multicultural America: Conversations with Contemporary Authors
(2005).
Before meeting Charles Johnson, I was very much familiar with the
works of Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin and many other African
American writers, poets, philosophers and critics. In my view Johnson has
created an enviable niche for himself in the pantheon of African American
writings.
Robin
Lindley: How would you describe Professor Johnson’s style and voice as a writer
of fiction and nonfiction?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: As you may be aware, Johnson’s
work, especially his fictional output, is firmly grounded in Philosophy. I
truly admire his non-fiction where his voice is most pronounced and impactful.
His Buddhist leanings have not only added to the glory of his writings but also
contributed a great deal to his abiding generosity and compassion that one can
instantly recognize on meeting and talking to him.
I
had interviewed him for my book, Multicultural America: Conversations with
Contemporary Authors and also for Re-Markings. It is very
significant that hinting at the danger of living in a
parochial cultural fishbowl, he lyrically resonates the need for a completely
new outlook that makes some narrow race-centered complaints irrelevant in an
increasingly complex multicultural and global economy. He not only loves to address the symptoms of
change in terms of acute identity crisis but also tries to prepare the
aesthetic ground for such a change. Our mutual bonds of friendship brought him
to Agra where I enjoyed his and Sharyn’s loving company with the Taj as a
backdrop in February 2018.
Robin
Lindley: You’re a sensitive reader with innovative views of the literature you
consider in your writing. I was struck by an essay you wrote on Joseph Heller’s
classic satirical and painful war novel, Catch-22. You mentioned Wilfred
Owens’ famous words on “the pity of war.” How did you come to write about
Heller’s book? Are there other works on war you’d suggest for readers?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: As I have mentioned earlier in this
conversation, a chapter of my book Calculus of Power: Modern American Political
Novel is titled “In the Theatre of War” where I have taken up for
discussion four war novels: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway,
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, The
Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt
Vonnegut, Jr.
Heller’s
novel Catch-22 has always fascinated me for
its unique approach to war and all that it involves. The central problem before the novel’s protagonist is
to find means and devise a strategy to survive in the hostile bureaucratic
system. It is through Yossarian’s inner conflict mainly that one gets a fairly
good idea of what it means to be trapped in such a system. Heller exposes the
hypocrisy of the bureaucratic enterprise based on the purely vested interests
of those who are at the top of the hierarchy and who want the war to go on
irrespective of the need for a motive. He is decidedly against the capricious
self-seekers who are either making money or having fun at the expense of
performing heroic deeds in order to win honor and worship for he feels he can
easily be replaced by any of the ‘ten million people in uniform.’
Unlike Fortinbras (in Shakespeare’s Hamlet) who
was prepared to risk the lives of twenty thousand men for an egg shell,
Yossarian has only one passion: to stay alive and fight those in power who were
about to get him. He lives in perpetual dread of everything he could possibly
imagine.
In a carnivalesque spirit Heller exposes the hypocrisy
of the military bureaucracy without undermining, of course, the military
strength and superiority of the United States of America. Through the use of
unconventional mode of aesthetic expression, blending pungent humour with the
horrifying spectacle of war, Heller succeeds in conveying that the conventional
heroics associated with war are no longer tenable in the modern era.
Robin
Lindley: I appreciated the introduction in your new book to the work of Dalit
poet Namdeo Dhasal. Decades ago, we were taught in my public school that the
Indian caste system was extremely rigid and that Untouchables or Dalits were
outcasts doomed to lives of drudgery and brutal discrimination without hope of
social mobility. What is the reality of the caste system now and the situation
of Dalits today?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: What you were taught decades ago
about Indian caste system being extremely rigid has been in resonance with
ground reality even in contemporary times.
As
the ambivalence of the “American Dilemma” continues to haunt the conscience of
the most powerful democracy in the world, the USA, no less problematic is the
issue of Caste for the world’s largest democracy, India. During elections it
can be seen how important a role caste plays in determining the suitability of
a contestant fielded by any political party.
According to many noted Dalit writers, it is
true that oppression and humiliation of the Dalits
have not ceased. They exist still in subtler variations in many segments of
society and polity despite sweeping changes in legislations and legal sanctions.
I
have specifically mentioned in my essay on Namdeo Dhasal in Mirror from the
Indus that. though India can take pride in upholding its democratic
credentials by installing two Dalit Presidents in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and
electing a Dalit woman chief minister four times in the largest state in India
besides numerous ministers to the union and state cabinets, it cannot be denied
that Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s dream of liberty, equality and fraternity continues
to elude the Dalit community in India.
My
view is that the Dalits in India and the African Americans in the US who come
from poor economic backgrounds must be made to understand the importance of
upward mobility through education and work skills despite all the challenges
that may threaten such initiatives. Also, the ones who have reached the higher
echelons of power through affirmative action/reservation must take the
initiative to encourage their less fortunate brethren to rise and shine in a
grossly unequal world.
A
large measure of hope for the Dalits lies in the fact that they are getting
increasingly articulate in projecting their rights and responsibilities through
their writings in print and social media.
Robin
Lindley: When Dr. King visited India in 1959, a school principal referred to
him as an American “Untouchable.” King was stunned but, on reflection, agreed
with that assessment. A big question, but from what you know of America and our
history, is the view of Black people in the US comparable how Dalits or “Untouchables”
are seen and treated in India?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: Dr. King may have been surprised to
be seen as a “Black Untouchable” in 1959 because he may not have been aware of
the fact that Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the Dalit icon, had first brought to light
the similarities between the predicament of the African Americans in the US and
the Dalits in India in terms of oppression, discrimination and inequality.
W. E. B. Dubois had written a letter to Dr. Ambedkar lauding his
leadership in the Dalit cause. Dr. Ambedkar had inspired and encouraged several
Dalit scholars to go to the U.S. to study African American literature and to
interact with activists in the field. African American literature,
consequently, served as a model for Dalits in India who wanted to give
expression to their suffering and agony on account of centuries of exploitation
and discrimination. Time and again, Dr. Ambedkar pointed out to his devout
followers that they could learn from their African American counterparts how to
articulate their emotions with boldness and daring. Using the activist model provided
by the Black Panther movement, the Dalit Panther movement was created in
Maharashtra.
There are close parallels where race in the US and caste in
India are concerned though some, like Lama Rangdrol, may argue that the Dalits
live in greater misery than the average black in America.
Though atrocities against Dalits continue to be seen in
India, it cannot be denied that changes in attitude are also visible in Dalit
writings. New ways of thinking, the
outlook of the new generation, scientific and technological advancement, the IT
revolution etc. have affected a paradigm shift in peoples’ consciousness.
The
discriminatory modes too have undergone changes. The social media and the
internet provide the opportunity to connect with everyone on earth without the
prejudice of caste, creed, color, religion or nationality.
Robin
Lindley: Like me, many readers may be puzzled by the ongoing religious tensions
and eruptions of violence on the south Asian subcontinent. Did the tensions
today originate with the partition and independence in 1947, or was there
always violence between the two primary religions, Hindu and Muslim? This topic
is worthy of many books, but what’s your sense?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: It would not be correct to conclude
that religious tensions and eruptions of violence between the Hindu and Muslim
communities in India originated as a result of the partition of the nation in
1947. Of course, the partition drew a permanent wedge in the two communities
and those who had lived in peace and harmony for ages turned foes overnight and
participated in orgies of violence that remain unparalleled in the history of
the sub-continent.
In
my opinion the Hindu-Muslim discord is a legacy of the divide-and-rule policy
of the British Government. The First War of Independence (which the British
designate as a mutiny), that took place in 1857 and literally shook the citadel
of English rule in India, was fought with the Hindus joining hands with the
Muslims to drive away the British. Consequently, after the failure of the
combined forces, the British power realized that in order to consolidate their
Empire, it was necessary to pit one community against the other. In fact, the
English succeeded in their sinister design by creating pressure groups who
advocated the partition of the country. It is, however, relevant to note that
the Indian National Army (INA) under the leadership of the revolutionary leader
Subhas Chandra Bose offers a unique example of Hindu-Muslim amity and
brotherhood.
Even
today, the legacy of creating communal discord under the divide-and-rule policy
seems to be a convenient tool in the hands of politicians to sustain their
political existence.
Robin
Lindley: Our current president Donald Trump and India’s Prime Minister Modi are
seen by some commentators as similar in that they both use fear and division to
appeal to their political bases. Our countries are very different, but do you
agree with that view of the two leaders? How do you see them?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: History bears evidence to the fact
that be it democracy or dictatorship, the leaders do resort to the use of fear
and division to keep themselves in power. The strategy of the two leaders you
mention may be quite similar when it comes to consolidating their respective
political bases. But what makes Modi different is that he enjoys the admiration
of people from the lower economic strata on account of his ability to connect
with them on one-to-one basis through his emotional speeches and seemingly
genuine concern.
Robin
Lindley: Indian writing in English is gaining popularity in the United States.
Who are a few Indian writers or books you’d recommend to American readers?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: Since most American readers are
already aware of the much-hyped works of Booker and Pulitzer Prize recipients
who are immigrant US citizens, I would recommend writers like R. K. Narayan,
Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, U. R. Ananthamurthy, Mahashweta Devi, Munshi
Premchand, Nissim Ezekiel, Jayanta Mahapatra among numerous others.
Robin
Lindley: You thoughtfully consider this era of the COVID 19 pandemic in the
introduction to Mirror from the Indus and in your recent blog entries. The
United States now leads the world in COVID cases and deaths. What is the
situation in India with the pandemic?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: India is closely following on the
heels of the United States in the domain of rising COVID 19 pandemic cases.
Population density is a major cause for worry in India. Poverty, unemployment,
lack of health care and infrastructure facilities add to the challenge. In fact
the onus of protection from the Corona virus largely rests on individuals in
terms of social distancing and sanitization. Ayurvedic medicine and herbs seem
to provide some hope for increasing immunity to check the effect of the virus.
Robin
Lindley: You offer many encouraging and wise words at this time of peril for
the entire globe. Where do you find hope at this uncertain and challenging
time?
Professor
Nibir Ghosh: I have elaborately stated in the
Preface to Mirror from the Indus that what we need most in this time of
peril is to heed the voices of philosophers, poet-prophets, writers and
intellectuals who have warned us time and again to bring in a revolutionary
change in our attitude and approach to halt our onerous march toward doom.
Like
mindless robots we have often refused to listen to the voices of sanity. In 1762,
at the very beginning of The Social Contract Jean-Jacques Rousseau had
asserted that “man is born free and everywhere he is in chains” and had
suggested that the only way we could break the fetters was to “return to
nature.” Following Rousseau, William Wordsworth warned us to refrain from
entering the whirlpool of the endless cycle of getting and spending. Rather
than enter into a “Social Contract” to breach the unsurmountable gulf between
affluence and poverty, mankind moved on, unmindful of impending catastrophes,
presuming that the powerful, the wealthy and the affluent would always remain
untouched by such storms of adversity.
We
are bound to feel pessimistic when we are reminded about the recent happening
in Minneapolis where four white policemen attempted, in the manner of the
deadly virus, to create respiratory problems leading to the death of George
Floyd, a black American. The event clearly demonstrates the human resolve to
continue with the status quo of the powerful asserting their dominance over the
oppressed and powerless wings of society.
However, it can certainly be hoped now that
the day is not too far away when one could assuage the accumulated guilt of
centuries by inculcating the feelings of compassion and universal brotherhood
toward the downtrodden and helpless masses. We must learn to accept the
paradigm shift from the emphasis on integration and inter-connectivity of a globalized
world to the new norms of social distancing, isolation and quarantine. COVID
19 has come with numerous lessons for mankind, the most prominent being the
need for compassion, fellow-feeling of love and brotherhood for one and all.
If
we join our hands and hearts in this hour of grave global crisis, curb our own
immediate self-interests, and work in communion for a society where individual
happiness can coexist in harmony with the general good of all, there is enough
room for hope and optimism.
Robin
Lindley: Thank you Professor Ghosh for your illuminating comments and
congratulations on your compelling new book Mirror of the Indus. It’s
sure to be a resource for many years to come. And, as renowned American poet
and a past University of Washington professor Theodore Roethke said, “In a dark
time, the eye begins to see.” At this anxious time, I find your words and your writing
reassuring, and I know other readers too will appreciate the light you cast at
this dark time.
Professor Nibir Ghosh: Thanks Robin for your deep interest in my work. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. I shall be happy if the light of my book illumines even a little corner of a heart in despair.
Robin Lindley is a Seattle-based writer and
attorney. He is features editor for the History News Network (hnn.us), and his
work also has appeared in Re-Markings, Writer’s Chronicle, Crosscut,
Documentary, Huffington Post, Bill Moyers.com, Salon.com, NW Lawyer, ABA Journal, Real Change, and more. He
has a special interest in the history of human rights, conflict, medicine, and
art. He can be reached by email: robinlindley@gmail.com.
Reprinted from History News Network September 26, 2020. http://www.hnn.us/blog/154408
Comments
on the Interview
Dear Nibir,
It was an extraordinary pleasure indeed
to hear from you and to read the wonderful and erudite interview of you by
Robin Lindley. I very much appreciated having the opportunity to read to piece
and to learn something of the journey by which you have had such a productive
and influential academic career. It was gratifying to read how the period
during which you were at the University of Washington played a role in this
journey. --Professor Michael C. Shapiro, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Very revealing and interesting interview, Prof. Ghosh.
I hadn’t realized you started with a background in the sciences and later
became an eminent humanist and literary scholar. Thanks for sharing it. –
Dr. Tijan M. Sallah, Gambian writer and poet & former World Bank Executive
Dear Nibir, Thanks. This is great. The attention you and your work receive in USA is well deserved!! Jonah Raskin, Writer and poet, California
Hi Nibir,
It was quite an extensive, wide-ranging read. I especially like what you wrote
about how literature cannot exist when isolated from history and culture, a
point that cannot be stressed enough in more postmodern circles these days. And
I have never noted the Christianity connection in Auden before, so that was a
quick education for me. My favourite part is probably when you write: “Mindsets
cannot be changed with speeches and slogans; they can be broken only through
sterling acts of self-sacrifice.” I couldn’t agree more. And I always
appreciate the optimism and enthusiasm with which you always try to build
bridges across gulfs of cultural differences. Thank you! --Cyril Wong, Writer & Poet,
Singapore
MANY MANY congratulations!!! I am printing it to enjoy it ASAP (in a better chair and moment) your deep, wise, erudite and vibrant interview as I see in my fast first glances…It has the best aspect and I am going to be very happy! Again many congrats! – Dr. Margarita Merino, Spanish American writer and poet.
Dear Nibir
Thank you for being in touch. Good to hear from you. I have just finished reading the interview with Robin Lindley which I found very interesting. Much food for thought.
I feel that there needs to be a far deeper understanding about racial discrimination, colour prejudice and the roots of prejudice. The Black Lives Matter movement which has swept the world in response to the treatment of George Floyd, needs to make sure that issues do not become a Pavlov trigger. Prejudice cannot be simplified. We all have prejudices and overcoming them is not something that can be forced and is an individual challenge – but what should not happen is indiscriminate violence or any violence as inevitably the innocent get hurt. Gandhi’s peaceful way is far more powerful and retains dignity. By the way somewhere I read some criticism about remarks he had made about Africans in South Africa and wondered what he said. The language of political correctness while avoiding derogatory expressions, can, at the same time, make a nonsense of language. Of course black lives matter. As with the Dalits and untouchables in India, there has been huge and offensive discrimination but your point is important that as well as jurisdiction education is the key. I was told that some Universities in America are considering withdrawing or dumbing down certain courses because they are too challenging for some black students. That is not the way forward. Toppling statues is in my view absurd – a waste of time. There have been many comments about this here – and museums are shifting certain statues out of the way so that they do not cause offence. There has been so much ‘woke’ take up of the MeToo movement and Transgender rights that genuine human sympathy seems to get swamped and debate ceases to exist on issues that are not at all straightforward.
I am glad you pointed out that the English had encouraged Hindu/Muslim division in the interests of divide and rule. But what is to blame for the current divisions? Have you read The Silk Roads: A New History of The World (published in 2015) by Peter Frankopan? I was struck how fluid religions were at one stage, borrowing from each other. The Crusades of course were divisive, another form of imperialism.
I had not realized that your early Ph.D. was on Auden. I also thought it good that you were able to remind people about the rest of Kipling’s poem which provides a perspective on the famous line about East and West. It is always unsettling when one is confronted by prejudice in admired writers or politicians – anti-semitism in Eliot, Churchill’s attitude to India and so forth – but one can still appreciate what is good in these people, while aware of failings.
I would be interested to read your book Mirror from the Indus.—Anita (Auden) Money, London
Dear Nibir,
Finally, on the fight back to Austria, I found the
quiet time to read through your interview with Robin Lindley, and I think he
did a great job introducing your professional achievements in the fields of
American, British and Post-Modern Literature and Culture to the readers. Congrats!
To my delight, I also discovered an Austrian
component in your dissertation about W. H. Auden, who spent the last years of
his life in the village of Kirchstetten not far from Vienna, and actually died
in a Vienna hotel shortly after one of his readings. I like his poetry but must
confess I have never been to Kirchstetten - maybe something I should do next
summer.
Currently, the pandemic is flapping its wings again
across the globe, and I wish you all the best, and stay safe! Walter
Hoelbling, Graz, Austria
Dear Nibir
It's a very good interview. I agree
with you about Kipling! And Gandhi. I've just published a book about Gandhi and
Tolstoy and have become very wrapped up in them. I hope you are working on
something new also. -- Imraan Coovadia, South African novelist.
MANY MANY congratulations!!! I am printing it to enjoy it ASAP (in a
better chair and moment) your deep, wise, erudite and vibrant interview as I
see in my fast first glances…It has the best aspect and I am going to be very
happy! Again many congrats! –
The (deep) interview is truly excellent! Many congrats!! It is erudite, sensitive, acute; it dismantles
prejudices in understanding great authors and texts in whole, it connects with
essential issues and themes in life and literature… Robin LIndley did a
great job with his questions too.
I am sure he is really proud about
the enlightening product you both bring to all your readers ... I would
like to write something about your marvelous ways of making the world a better
place no matter the humility of my words... Sorry for the
delays…
Worries, pandemic, a lot of writing,
deaths, almost depression when the monstrous specimen who tries to
twist the result of the election is still in charge… Take great care
of you and your family. We need you, your kindness, understanding,
insights and compassionated heart! The very best always, M. -- Dr.
Margarita Merino, Spanish- American writer and poet.
Congratulations, Nibir. 😊🙏🏽—Dr. Deena Padayachee, Durban, South Africa
Dear
Dr. Ghosh (Nibirda)
Very sorry to respond to your mail late. I took some time to go through your conversation with Mr. Robin Lindley, and I read it 3 times, before I thought I may respond to you, an erudite scholar & luminary in the domain of English Literature and History.
I happened to have spent most of my time in the pursuit of development of indigenous Technologies and Systems for the Indian Armed Forces. However I always felt illuminated with your thought process in articulating your responses on various issues through your literary works across the Globe. It has pervaded beyond the boundaries of space, religion, caste, creed & culture, constantly trying to evolve a common meeting ground for peace and well being of humanity at large. This conversation too is not an exception. It has tempted me to read your book sometime Mirror from the Indus with all concentration it deserves.
Being in the Science and Technology domain, one quote of the famous scientist Albert Einstein — “Concern for Man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavours. Never forget this in the midst of diagrams and equations”—has always been a guide and inspiration for me. Here again, I find a common meeting ground you created between us, where you affirm, “Literature isolated from history and culture cannot exist on its own.”
The excellent way you projected your soul-searching and satisfaction in literary works— “combine vocation with avocation” —sends out a great message to the world for choosing individual’s vocation. I cannot agree more on this aspect, and would wait for its continuous assessment of time beyond the immediate moments of history.
It is heartening that you responded to Mr. Robin Lindley about how Technology/IT revolution is changing people’s consciousness levels beyond boundaries for humane benefits to the toiling and Dalit masses of the world.
Sir, I have one question on this text of conversation to you…. While agreeing to the fact that the British sowed the seed of Hindu Muslim divide for their sinister design to divide and rule—the partition of the country on religious lines, when we were getting our freedom, has thrown up a very big question on our leadership during independence —and has always been a black spot on Indian History. Shall we not find a suitable answer for the same?
Last but not the least, my deepest appreciation is for Mr. Robin Lindley, the historian, whose analytical ability in framing the questions, quest to understand matters across the boundaries, brings out the best of our Nibirda, the great exponent of English Literature activist & Emeritus Professor Dr. Nibir Ghosh from India.
Robin Lindley’s caption to the Interview: “Inspiration from the Banks of Indus River—a Conversation with Dr. Nibir Ghosh” deserves accolade and relevance in today’s context of global literary discourse. -- Debasish Chakraborti, Outstanding Scientist & Former Director, ADRDE (DRDO), Agra, & Former Principal Associate Director, NSTL, (DRDO), Visakhapatnam.
What a relief to hear your voice after
what seemed an eternity! Most delightful surprise, your conversation with HNN Features
Editor, Robin Lindley. –Dr. Ramesh Chand Shah, writer, poet, critic.
Padma Shree and Sahitya Akademi recipient, Bhopal.
Dear Nibir,
Thank
you for sending me the lengthy interview. At my age and present dissuading
times, reading it line by line seemed a daunting, herculean task. Today I took
time off amidst my loud cups of tea, in this morning session to make a serious
attempt to read the interview in full. Lo and behold, I did it. Nibir, this was
fascinating journey into the realms of English Literature, mainly American
literature, to be precise. American literature had been just introduced in my
time (1967-69). I was among the just handful of students, who opted. After 50
years, I got reconnected with Literature again. The Interviewer, Prof. Robin
Lindley, seemed to be a reservoir of deep knowledge. The facile introduction allowed
me a kaleidoscopic insight of your profound literary career at a glance that
was not really known to me. You delightfully negotiated his questions like an
ace batsman, delectably, effortlessly dispatching the ball all over the fence
and remained not out (now in the midst of cricketing season). I thoroughly
enjoyed the session. Moreover, I notice that you have built up a refined,
erudite personality in consonance with your vast acquired knowledge. I have not
seen you for a while now and eagerly look forward to see you soon. -- Ashok
Chakravarty, Former Member, Human Rights Commission, New Delhi.
Jai Hind Sir! It's an excellent peace of intellectual vision. Our heartiest congratulations to have such an honour. Always proud of you! –Group Captain Jai Pal Singh Chauhan, Air Force Station, Faridabad.
Enjoyed reading it. Not only is the interview interesting, I also discovered so many new things about you and your writings. congratulations on your new book - Mirror from the Indus. Thanks for sharing. – Prof. Jasbir Jain, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Dear Nibirji,
A
marvellous Interview! Questions and your answers, all of them, so learned and
clear. Enjoyed reading the whole interview. Heartiest Congratulations! I
hope it will be seen in print as well. -- Prof. Santosh Gupta,
University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Thanks so much, Nibir, for this special forward. Both humbling and illuminating to read. It has strengthened my respect for the quality and range of your work, commitment and perseverance. I look forward to reading Mirror from the Indus. Prof. Mini Nanda, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Thank you Dr Ghosh for sharing this information. I am really happy and feel proud about it all. I will go through the interview and then give my comments, though I have no idea about this new book of yours. The title, Mirror from the Indus, is catchy. Congratulations for this book and also for the name and fame that come in its wake. You have been doing a commendable job in being able to publish so much. I know it must require persistent and consistent effort on your part. Kudos to you for all of this. -- Dr. Sanjay Mishra, RBS College, Agra
It's a treat to read your literary gems, Sir. Such deep insight into diverse literary, cultural and historical affairs! It's a privilege to be a part of the Re-Markings family. More success and power to you always. Dr. Ashoo Toor, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
I am very happy for you. Another one of the moments for the world to know about your work 🙏—Dr. Monali Bhattacharya, JIIT, Noida
Just finished reading the entire interview. How brilliantly you put yourself across! Such fluency, flow and rhythm of language is marvellous Sir. How every time I read something from you it always evokes a feeling of how huge and expansive your ocean of knowledge and wisdom is. I admire your thought-provoking responses to the often-challenging questions. Your stand on various authors, personalities and their work reflect your expert research approach. Congratulations Sir on the success of your book. Your interview makes me curious to explore Mirror from the Indus soon. Dr. Roopali Khanna, Kala Sadhana, Agra
Dear Prof. Ghosh, Thank you so much for sharing the link of one of the most engaging “conversations” that I have read in a long time. Your detailed responses are a literary treasure and you pack in so much interesting information in each of your responses. What makes this piece even more precious is the humility with which you respond to the questions. I could not discern any academic ego at play... but then I have been the recipient of your graciousness in sharing knowledge without any pretence. Dr. Anjali Singh, MLS University, Udaipur
Sir, It gives me tons of pleasure to enter the igniting life and literary voyage oa worldly acclaimed giant authority. Tons of congratulations for promoting a new platform through your doctoral work. What an amazing personality! I am amazed to explore sound & profound insights in British, American, and African literatures. I feel a deficit of words to appreciate the global & cosmic author. – Dr. Rajan Lal, Hindu College, Amroha
This is great news. Your book is really very good. I enjoyed reading it although I am not an avid reader. Your analysis and the content chosen is excellent. I am certain, it is years of your research that has made it possible. All the very best Heartiest Congratulations. Shravan Chemburkar, Mumbai
Dear Sir,
I read and thoroughly enjoyed the
interview. It's an excellent piece with insights on many things from
literature, history and cultural exchange among people of different followings.
Hearty congratulations for the global reach! - Dr. Rahul Kamble, EFLU,
Hyderabad
Dear Sir,
I enjoyed reading the interview. Please allow me to say I was not surprised
that your academic horizon is so wide and versatile, covering the ground from
African American literature to Dalit literature. I could not help thinking how
analogous they are. Wish I could get hold of these books, especially Calculus
of Power. I read about it on your website as well. It seemed like a
consummate blend of major disciplines and issues dealt in some of the best
novels America has produced. I was so glad to read about Catch 22 in
the interview; it's one of the most amazing book that had caught my attention
when I read that your book deals with Heller too. Mirror for the Indus sounds
so brilliant too, oh how I love art that addresses the basic emotional
predicament in a way that sensitises us, or as Bertolt Brecht would have us not
be passive readers but active thinkers on being exposed to a work of art.
I have been of the same view as Mr. Lindley when it comes to Kipling. But your take on it intrigued me. I might need to unlearn prejudices of critics I have read, before I sit to read him. I think the way our education system works -- emphasising a lot on what the eminents have said and less on what you being an ordinary being think about. It really binds us with a singular stream of thought.
I was completely unaware of the fact that you have worked with the likes of
Charles Johnson. I am stupefied and in awe. And how exquisitely you talk of
teaching, it provides me with so much inspiration to become one. Even though I
could not sit in your classes, I am so grateful for the opportunity I get to
interact with you. A flicker of hope resonated when you talked about racism
(one of the many problems that clings to the skirts of society), you exude
light in a world that is slowly becoming devoid of it. Congratulations on your
book, Sir.
Dhruvee Sinha, PG student, Patna University, Patna.
Awesome Sir... I never knew we used to play badminton with a Fulbright Scholar. Sir I have gone through the interview ... very interesting take although I have not been a student of literature but I do have some exposure in terms of works of Farewell to Arms, George Orwell etc... I wish I had time for such beautiful things in life.... I feel like taking out time for your new work Mirror from the Indus.... but I guess I should read all your works to have a feel of your comprehension.... but I find it interesting that we have such literary genius in our neighbourhood.... I specially liked your statement: "Literature isolated from history and culture cannot exist on its own"...🙏🙏 Dr. Gaurav Rohilla, Senior Scientist, ADRDE, Agra.
Dear Sir,
My heartiest congratulation to you for
the astounding success of your latest work Mirror from the Indus. This work has not
only given me an insight into lives of the several distinguished personalities
with whom one may be familiar in some way but it is the reading of Mirror… that made me take
a new standpoint. It opened up an opportunity to look towards certain events
with a fresh perspective and reassess their implications in light of the
current scenario.
Fortunately, I read “INSPIRATION FROM THE BANKS OF THE INDUS
RIVER: A CONVERSATION WITH NIBIR K. GHOSH” by Robin Lindley published in History
News Network. This interview appears to me an appropriate supplementary
read to your work. Robin Lindley has taken multiple slices out of Mirror…
and put them under a microscopic examination. To a reader of Mirror… the
interview serves as the key for decoding the author’s mind. Any seeking mind is
likely to see one’s own reflection in the questions asked by Lindley. In your
candid answers, you have talked about your formative days, the early tryst with
literature, academic growth and humanist philosophy. This has broadened my
understanding of the various works you have written
over the years. Lindley’s questions are exhaustive and touch all the
dimensions of the essays in Mirror... They are testimony to Lindley’s
deep interest in history, law and literature.
To know more about the interviewer, I
read Robin Lindley’s interview by you published in the current issue of Re-Markings
(September 2020). Reading both the interviews simultaneously, where interviewer
and interviewee have switched the roles and mutually transformed them into
a lively conversation that delves into varied topics such as the current
political situation of America and India, handling of the pandemic, religious
tensions and status of the African Americans in the U.S. and the Dalits in
India. Both the conversationalists stand on a common ground where they believe
in expressing their thoughts fearlessly sans filters of pretence.
I am looking forward to reading more
interviews by Robin Lindley for little can escape from the intellectual probe
that he conducts so diligently. I sincerely hope that your
"illuminating comments" keep shining on me. -- Saurabh Agarwal, Entrepreneur and
freelance writer and poet (Agra).
I read the interview with great interest. It was quite informative. My heartiest congratulations on the publication of Mirror from the Indus 👍👏. Dr. Arun Soule, Univ. of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Congratulations, Nibir. You
have done Agra and India proud. – Dr. Pramila Chawla, BD Jain College, Agra
Sir, it was very enlightening to
go through your talk with Robin Lindley. I will read your latest book. Thank
you very much for giving the link. – Dr. R.P. Singh, Chattisgarh
Excellent sir. Congratulations. Fabulous conversation. – Dr. Gunjan Chaturvedi, HOD English, BDKM, Agra
Robin Lindley’s extended conversation with Dr. Nibir K. Ghosh, the author of ‘Inspiration from the Banks of the Indus River’, brings out the timelessness of the ideas that have shaped the thought-process of generations both in India and the United States of America, two of the greatest democracies of the world. Acknowledging Dr. Ghosh as a ‘reliable source for knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration’, Lindley looks for a solution to the Pandemic of Loss that is sweeping the world. The ‘consumption’ that the society is suffering from originates in the quest for more, with 'material' over-riding the 'moral'. Dr. Ghosh’s latest book provides us with an antidote to this malady. Calling Mirror from the Indus a gift to readers, Lindley suggests that a subtitle for the book could be something like 'Writing Without Borders', a very apt nomenclature. For between its pages are the all-time great minds from different cultures, who, says the interviewer, make the book so timely. From the city of love comes the language of love, uniting two individuals as starkly different as Dr. Ghosh and Robin Lindley, and the two cultures that they proudly represent. The symphony of great values and messages is enlivened by personal anecdotes which present Dr. Ghosh as the polymath that he is. Lindley rightly brings out the fact that Dr. Ghosh is a living, breathing example of national integration, what with a non-resident Bengali marrying a Punjabi, a Science student taking over the world of Literature and an illustrious career that spans the length and breadth of our country. In fact, Dr. Ghosh symbolizes International integration (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) - as a Fulbright Scholar, the world is his oyster. I Congratulate Robin for showcasing the multi-faceted personality of the great author.
Now what do you say! You are in the news! And the all-comprehensive interview deserves more. Although, after History News Network, I don't know what is left, for that is the pinnacle! Congratulations again, Sir for your erudite leadership to the world of knowledge! Mirror from the Indus should be a prescribed book in educational institutions. It will help stem the tide of hopelessness that has come to stay because of the moral depravity aided by the pandemic. -- Seema Sinha, Research Scholar, BITS Pilani, Rajasthan
Dear Prof. Nibir K. Ghosh: Greetings! Going through your incisive conversation with Prof. Robin Lindley was a source of great pleasure and a very enriching experience. Thanks for sharing the same with me. Your responses and views are a testimony to your great scholarship, critical thinking, love for humanity and a deep rooted syncretic philosophy. Your concluding advise to pay heed to the "voices of philosophers" is especially valuable in these difficult times. The discussion on your recently published book Mirror from the Indus has ignited my curiosity and interest and, am sure, is a precious contribution to the body of critical research in the field. Heartiest congratulations on this latest achievement! -- Dr. Charu Mathur, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Congratulations, sir for this latest feather in your long list of accomplishments. Wishing you more power and success ahead! Truly admire your comment: ‘one must conquer temptation and fear...’ 👍 Dr. Bindu Sharma, Jagraon, Ludhiana
Dear Sir, ...so high...and yet so grounded. Just finished reading all of it...the first impression is of ...the voice of integrity and a positive outlook...I guess it's the language - easy to understand, fluid thought, and reflects deep understanding of vast topics... For me it's quite an insight and a revelation...on Kipling, catch-22, Charles Johnson, American and Indian similarity - discrimination, democracy and the rulers... ...on Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther...COVID pandemic and its lesson...W H Auden...and of course the importance of the interdisciplinary approach...something included in the NEP too... ..and of course faith in the route of education and work skills for an upward mobility for the less unfortunate... Great way to start the day... Ms. Anjali Singh, Ph.D. Scholar, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra.
Thanks for sharing Sir. This looks so amazing. Will be so helpful for people like me who are budding and naive researchers. Thanks for leading and sharing the valuable legacy of your rich thoughts with me. – Ms. Mamta Bansal, YMCA, Faridabad
You have done Agra and India proud. Congratulations. -- Dr. Promila Chawla, B.D. Jain, Agra
Very Remarkable Interview. Hats off to your Intellect. 💐💐Congratulations! -- Mr. Anil Sharma, Poet, Agra.
**The Conversation Reprinted in Creation and Criticism ISSN: 2455-9687 (A Quarterly International Peer-reviewed Refereed e-Journal Devoted to English Language and Literature) Vol. 05, Joint Issue 18 & 19 : July-Oct 2020
