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Launch of ELSA and 150th Birth Anniversary of
Rudyard Kipling
Agra, 12th March, 2016
ENGLISH LITERARY SOCIETY OF AGRA (ELSA)
150th Birth Anniversary of Rudyard Kipling
Keynote Speech by Nibir K. Ghosh
It is sheer delight to speak as Chief
Guest to the august gathering on the “contemporary relevance of Rudyard
Kipling” whose 150th Birth Anniversary is being celebrated
under the banner of English Literary Society of Agra today. Kipling has been a
controversial writer and has often been branded a “Jingo Imperialist.” At the
very outset I point out how we often jump to conclusions through our bias and
prejudice and destroy relationships instead of holding them in bonds of
harmony. As an instance, I refer to his poem, “Ballad of East and West”, which
many of us may not have cared to read.
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. In more recent times Samuel Huntington’s hypothesis
stated in his 1996 book, The Clash of Civilizations, - that
the fundamental source of conflict in the new world will be cultural - seems to
further reiterate the cultural divide indicated by Kipling’s remark. Though the
combined forces of globalization have in recent time decisively enhanced
mobility across economic and political frontiers, the events of 9/11 which reduced
The World Trade Center to ground zero in the twinkling of an eye and
perpetuated terrorism on global scale thereafter have set the world rethinking
in terms of an imminent clash of civilizations.
It is indeed
ironical that Kipling’s most misunderstood statement is generally used by those
who see 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.
In both
spirit and flesh Kipling’s poetic statement, made more than a century
ago, ought to inspire 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.
Alexander
Solzhenitsyn, the author of the Nobel Prize winning book Gulag
Archipelago, had declared way back in 1970 that “Mankind's sole salvation
lies in everyone making everything his business; in the people of the East
being vitally concerned with what is thought in the West, the people of the
West vitally concerned with what goes on in the East.” But,
unfortunately, those whose visions are closed to diversity and tolerance
on account of irrational mindsets refuse to see and learn how bridging the gulf
created by barriers and boundaries can make the world safer and more beautiful.
What
especially interests me in Kipling is his firm grasp of the true inwardness of
all things Indian. We find this abundantly reflected in the major segment of
Kipling's writings. Be it The Jungle Book, Kim or
any other work we are bound to agree with the fact stated in the Nobel Prize
Award Ceremony Speech that his writings “have brought India nearer home to the
English nation than has the construction of the Suez Canal.”
The Jungle Book (1894)
Most of us
can easily recall how we were drawn to the lilting lyrics of Gulzar in the song
musically rendered by Vishal Bharadwaj :jungle, jungle baat chali hai, pata
chala hai/ Chaddi pehen ke phool khila, phool khila hai” in the popular TV
serial based on the The Jungle Book that became hugely
popular with all age groups.
In this
collection of stories, Mowgli is first raised by wolves before being put out on
his own and his adventurous travel through the jungle to find the human
village. He learns the meaning of real friendship and trust from inhabitants of
the jungle like Baloo the bear, King Louie of the apes, the hypnotic snake Kaa
and the wise panther Bagheera. The book has positive messages about friendship,
responsibility, and finding family in unexpected places. Though many of the
characters are self-serving or outright evil, the ones who succeed in life are
the generous, caring ones. There is plenty to make us visit The Jungle
Book again and again both for its educative and entertainment values.
It is also significant that Walt Disney’s account of the book extended the
outreach of the book to international audiences and readers. Incidentally, this
was the last cartoon feature Disney was directly involved with before his
death.
In this age of environmental
crisis Kipling’s book offers much food for thought reminding us of Rousseau’s
opening statement in the Social Contract: “Man is born free but
everywhere he is in chains.”
“If” by Rudyard Kipling
(first appeared in his collection Rewards and Fairies in
1909)
If you can keep your head
when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not
make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of
all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds
and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
The poem is inspirational, motivational, and a set of rules for
'grown-up' living. It contains motos and maxims for life, and the poem is also
a blueprint for personal integrity, behaviour and self-development. “If” is
perhaps even more relevant today than when Kipling wrote it, as an ethos and a personal
philosophy.
The two lines
of the poem,
“If you can meet with
Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two
impostors just the same.”
inscribed above the entrance to Wimbledon’s Centre Court, inspires those who contend for one of tennis’s most treasured trophies.
One can draw,
in both success and despair, abundant inspiration from each line of the poem
for ways and means to face the struggle of life with equanimity and grace. To a
world crazy for mantras of instant success, this poem is a vital blueprint for
a life nobly lived and a duty well done.
Khushwant
Singh rightly called this poem “a message from the Bhagvad Gita in
English.” I too am of the opinion that had Kipling not written a single line
besides this poem, this poem in itself would have ensured his presence in the
hall of immortal fame.”
Dr. Nibir K. Ghosh is UGC Emeritus Professor, Agra College, Agra, Senior Fulbright
Fellow 2003-04, University of Washington, Seattle, USA & Chief
Editor, Re-Markings (www.re-markings.com).
ELSA MEET HIGHLIGHTS
Tuesday, 7 July 2020
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Saturday, 7 March 2020
Saturday, 13 June 2020
ELSA Online MEET 31 May
2020 - Luminary Poets of the Bhakti Movement
Thursday, 13 September 2018
‘Making a
Difference with the Meeting of Minds’ - Famous Speeches and their
Transformative Potential
Tuesday,
26 November 2019
Contemporary
Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi - ELSA Meet 17 November, 2019
Sunday, 13 January 2019
Thursday, 7 March 2019
Tuesday, 5
March 2019
LITERATURE and
CHILDHOOD - ELSA MEET Goverdhan Hotel Agra 20 January 2019
Friday, 19 April 2019
Literature and
Marginalized Communities: African American and Other Perspectives - ELSA MEET
31st March 2019
Tuesday, 7 May 2019
Saturday, 14 September 2019
ELSA MEET: MY FAVOURITE
PLAYWRIGHT\DRAMATIST - 30th June 2019
Saturday, 14 September 2019
Seminar & Book Launch
Seminar on “Women’s Voices in Indian
Literature” & Launch of Silence & Beyond:
Shashi Deshpande’s Fiction by Dr. Santosh Kumar Singh, with a Foreword by
Professor Nibir K. Ghosh
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