Re-Markings
20th Anniversary Special Number
Vol. 20 No.1 March 2021
www.re-markings.com
Editorial
On
this historic occasion of Re-Markings’ 20th birth
anniversary, I deem it an honour and privilege to greet and address the vibrant
community of writers, scholars, academics and readers who remained steadfastly
associated with the journal since we began our journey in March 2002. As my
mind travels back in time, I remember how my friends and well-wishers had
cautioned me then against venturing into the less known terrain of journal
publication. Inspired by my resolve to create an enduring platform for
dissemination and exchange of ideas on issues and concerns of human import
worldwide, I refused to be perturbed by the anxiety and fear of the unknown.
Consequently, Re-Markings was launched. However, not unmindful of the
hurdles and challenges I was likely to encounter on my journey, I had
consciously declared at the end of my editorial in the inaugural issue: “The Gita says.
‘Every surface derives its soil from the depths even as every shadow reflects
the nature of the substance.’ I am optimistic that Re-Markings will find
effective sustenance in what it has to offer.”
Today,
20 years and 44 issues later, it is an immensely satisfying feeling to comprehend how, through 1500+ interviews,
essays, articles, research papers, reviews, stories, plays and poems, Re-Markings
has succeeded in creating an enviable climate of opinion in contemporary
critical and creative discourse. The encomiums received from celebrity writers
from India and other parts of the globe bear ample testimony to the love and
endearment that have been so generously showered by those who have enjoyed a
deep sense of belonging in their relationship to Re-Markings. At the
same time, their profuse love and appreciation is also a call for an enhanced
degree of responsibility in continuing to sustain and take forward the hallmark
of excellence that the journal has acquired in two decades of its publication.
With the precision and regularity reminiscent of the two equinoxes, every
effort has always been made to ensure that the readers receive their copy of Re-Markings
on or before the first of March and September each year.
In
these times of crisis, upheavals and cataclysmic changes we must accept the
fact that the personal and the political are inextricably intertwined and that
no policy of isolation is possible. As responsible citizens of the world, it is
incumbent upon us to rise above our own limited interests and objectives and
become empathic to the oppression, poverty, discrimination, trauma, violence, bigotry,
pain and suffering that we witness all around us. If we have had to contend
with the unprecedented havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic that has left in
its wake millions dead and a staggering number of people struggling for
survival, we have also been constrained to witness with disbelief and dismay
how some diabolically inspired Trump-like figures have become desperate to
prove to the world that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely.’
At
such critical junctures in mankind’s onward march, the glimmer of hope seems to
lie in the power and transformative potential of words that we use in
articulating our feelings and concerns through the medium of speech and
writing. In this context a remark by T. S. Eliot seems quite pertinent: “To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing,
to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.”
Even a cursory glance
at the table of contents of this celebratory edition of Re-Markings will
reveal the journal’s continued commitment to offer our worthy readers stimulating
and provocative intellectual delicacies catering to multiple approaches to life
and literature. The urge to embrace the spirit of universal brotherhood has
been a motivating factor in helping us transcend and overcome boundaries and
barriers of nation, culture, caste, class, colour, race, gender, ideology etc. While
conversations with personalities from the U.S. and Israel bring to us the
happenings in powerful nations, the talk with a Dalit
rickshaw-puller-turned-author showcases the fact that even the marginalized can
be the torch-bearers of change through their active engagement with the written
word. Inspirational historical figures like Pandit
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar and ‘Shaheed’ Bhagat Singh teach us, through their
visions and deeds, how individuals, fired with a visionary zeal, can activate
social as well as political revolution. It is equally significant that
insightful erudite critiques and creative renderings from variant cultures and
climes have always been and will continue to be the mainstay of our journal.
Before
closing this editorial note, I am happy to put on record my grateful thanks to
one and all who have contributed in whatever way possible to spread the
blooming fragrance of our mission to make the world better. I would also like
to announce that our website, so aesthetically handled by our Executive Editor,
Sandeep K. Arora, has on display the Editorials, the list of contents for all
issues beginning March 2002. The process is already on for providing online
access to back numbers of Re-Markings.
With
warmest good wishes for a safer, healthier and brighter 2021,
Nibir
K. Ghosh
Chief Editor
Imprints
Re-Markings@20
The 20-year anniversary of Re-Markings is
a cause for celebration. For two decades I've read this excellent and
ground-breaking publication, which with every issue brings its readers the work
of award-winning writers, talented scholars, and critical thinkers from around
the world. It is a cornucopia of cultural inclusion, and I feel privileged that
my work has appeared on its pages. One
might say Re-Markings is India's finest literary ambassador to
the world.
—
Charles Johnson
US
National Book Award Winning Writer, UOW, Seattle, USA
I am delighted to learn that Re-Markings has reached a new
milestone in its distinguished journey as a literary and historical review. I
recall with pleasure the excellent interview that Dr. Nibir Ghosh conducted
with me on the challenges facing contemporary India. I enjoyed my visit to Agra
where I spoke on the political and cultural legacy of Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose at a wonderful gathering convened by Re-Markings. I wish the
journal all the very best in its future career and hope it will continue to enrich
politically engaged and ethically informed intellectual discourse in our
country and beyond.
—
Sugata Bose
Eminent
Harvard University Historian; Chairperson, Netaji Research Bureau, Kolkata and
former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)
2020 was a sad year—so much lives perished, got
harvested by the grim reaper. Mainstream and social media bristled with news
about the Corona Virus. COVID, COVID everywhere—grim headlines assaulted
us—breakfast, lunch, dinner. Uncertainty and fear went viral. It is
truly a malignant year, perhaps best described as Annus Horribilis.
But
all is not gloom and doom. As we get diminished by the somber news and
the countless funerals globally, there are anniversaries to celebrate: the
discovery of efficacious and hopefully safe vaccines— Pfizer’s and Moderna’s
and Astra Zeneca’s, as well as promising new therapies. Beyond that are
also the continued bright signs of the joys of life: the musical, the visual
and the literary arts. The world has witnessed major trials this year, but it
is not about to end. The sun is still rising. Just look out in the morning.
In
this spirit of optimism, I am excited about the twentieth anniversary of Re-Markings,
a literary and cultural publication that brings the world together through
creative and critical oeuvres that celebrate the culti-vation of humane
impulses and the triumph of the human spirit. The world has in the past
few years been usurped by authoritarian and nativist leaders across the globe
preaching a vile nationalism. They want to erect walls rather than build
bridges. They want to imprison rather than unleash the human spirit. They
simplify complex problems and pit the innocent against each other. They deny
science, including climate science—and withdraw to crude atavism. I am
reassured by platforms like Re-Markings where dialogue
triumphs over tone-deafness, where our common humanity is celebrated over the
hereditary differences of tribe, belief or geography. Twenty years might be
youth for a human life but a significant, non-trivial milestone for a literary
publication.
— Tijan M. Sallah
The Gambia’s Renowned Poet and
Writer, Maryland, USA
Twenty years is a
very long time, especially these days, for a print magazine. Re-Markings
has enjoyed a rich and rewarding global life of creativity and compassion. I
look forward to reading the anniversary issue at my home in California, which
is far from India, and really not far at all, when Re-Markings arrives.
—
Jonah Raskin
Writer,
Poet and Journalist, California, USA
We
are blessed when good things keep going and growing. Editing a literary
publication can be rewarding but also a difficult task. Writing
can be fun. Editing is always work. Nibir K. Ghosh should be admired for giving
breath and life to Re-Markings for twenty years. His journal should be
viewed as a resource for future thinkers. Happy Anniversary! Thank you for
creating a "palace" for international ideas and scholarship.
—
E. Ethelbert Miller
Writer and Literary Activist, Washington, D.C., USA
When, oh when shall I receive my copy of the
celebratory issue of Re-Markings?
It may not be so long a wait. But in these destitute times, nothing seems to
engage our nerves like poetry. It was after all a poet who raised the most
pertinent question long ago which sounds so immediate and urgent today. "...and
what are poets for in a destitute time?" asks Friedrich Holderin. In the third stanza of the same elegy, Holderin pronounces
the law that rules over the poets:
One thing stands
firm: whether it be near noon
Or close to midnight,
a measure ever endures,
Common to us all; yet
to each his own is allotted too,
Each of us goes
toward and reaches the place that he can.
The
only journal that caters to the dire need of poetry lovers like me is Re-Markings.
We are living in the most dangerous times, but as Holderin puts it: “But where
there is danger, there grows also what saves.” Everything in our life to-day
has been Absurd – even tragedy. Poetry is all we have – our only defence
against the reign of the Absurd that grips us right now. Still, as Rilke says
the unsayable, “man’s being is more adventurous than Life itself, … more
daring.” My heartfelt felicitations and all good wishes to Re-Markings
on this memorable milestone.
—
Ramesh Chandra Shah
Padmashree & Sahitya Akademi awardee
Writer and Poet
For
twenty years, it has been a miracle and an accomplishment every time Re-Markings produced
a new issue, and particularly now during a pandemic or our
culturally-challenging times. The journal has consis-tently provided a finely
curated platform for eclectic perspectives on intellectual to artistic and
political issues. I was privileged to be part of their special edition of A
World Assembly of Poets, a testament to the journal in always striving for
greater inclusivity and a wider representa-tion of contemporary
voices. The world is necessarily better for it.
—Cyril Wong
Acclaimed
Singaporean Writer and Poet
On the occasion of its 20th birthday,
my congratulations go
to the editorial team and advisory board of Re-Markings for
their successful attempt to inform and also bring together international
scholars of English Letters and Cultural Studies. The journal's special
emphasis on New Literatures in English gives voice to a growing body of diverse
literatures and is of particular interest for European readers like myself. I
thank you for your good work and wish you many happy returns! Best wishes, and
stay safe!
— Walter W. Hoelbling
Writer, Poet, Critic, University of Graz,
Austria
In the inaugural issue of Re-Markings,
Chief Editor Dr. Nibir K. Ghosh shared his aspirations for the journal:
"I humbly hope that the academic fraternity in India
and elsewhere will warmly welcome this enterprise and contribute
towards its growth with the sunshine of thought and breath of
life." Warm welcome ensued and has blossomed into steady commitment
twenty years on. As we fans of Re-Markings celebrate, we take
heart in the diversity of Re-Markings’ contents, including literary
analysis, short stories, poems, essays, interviews, book and film reviews, and
editorials. Re-Markings brings scholars together across cultures and
borders and promotes mutual understanding. Mutual understanding is an aim
of the Fulbright Program, the international academic and cultural exchange
program sponsored by the United States Department of State and partner
governments. J. William Fulbright, who sponsored the legislation creating the
program in 1946, wrote in The Price of Empire, "[t]he essence
of intercultural education is the acquisition of empathy – the
ability to see the world as others see it, and to allow for the possibility
that others may see something we have failed to see, or may see it more
accurately."
A
refereed international journal, Re-Markings sets a high
standard for its authors and provides consistently high quality to its readers.
The robust development of the website www.re-markings.com has expanded the
journal's reach and value as a source of ideas and platform for its
contributors. I commend the editors, advisory board and authors. I look forward
with great interest to the journal's continuing evolution in the coming decade.
— Jane Schukoske
Former Executive Director of U.S. Educational Foundation in India, New Delhi & Professor, University of Baltimore School of Law, USA
It
is a pleasure to congratulate Founder and Chief Editor Nibir Ghosh and his team
at Re-Markings as they celebrate their 20th year. Beginning
in 2002, their issues reflect an awareness of the best of contemporary Indian
and world literature and the importance of bridging our scattered literary
worlds. Through in-depth essays, reviews, interviews, poetry by world-famous
authors, Re-Markings has become a valuable carto-grapher of our
turbulent century. Its mast-head statement of intent is not an idle boast but
has been fulfilled with every issue. It has become “a biannual journal of English Letters aiming to provide a healthy forum
for scholarly and authoritative views on broad socio-political and cultural
issues of human import as evidenced in literature, art, television, cinema and
journalism with special emphasis on New Literatures in English including
translations and creative excursions.” And most importantly and
necessarily, “Re-Markings makes an earnest endeavour to en-courage
newcomers and young scholars by introducing their work to the academic
fraternity in the country and all over the globe.”
The Special Number Volume 16 No. 4 of November 2017, titled A
World Assembly of Poets: Contemporary Poems, an anthology guest-edited by
Tijan M. Sallah, was a landmark publication that brought together poets of
varying reputations from all continents and many islands, with perceptive
editorial introductions that gave the variety of today’s poetry a context that
goes beyond what has become familiar and somewhat worn in academia and literary
circles. All the best to Re-Markings as it voyages bravely into the oceans
of another twenty years of endeavor and measurable achievement.
—
John Robert Lee
Saint Lucian Writer and Poet
[Dear
Nibir] I am very glad to have an association with Re-Markings not only
because of your intelligent and warm appreciation of my uncle W. H. Auden, but because of your
openness to ideas and interest in different cultures and wish for harmony in
the world. Your balanced and critical view of Empire is especially relevant
now when immature and, in many cases, ignorant reactions to what indeed have
been serious in-justices but pulled out of context as if there was no such
thing as history and as if prejudice which we all have in one form or another
can be reduced to racial discrimination rather than the complex psychological
phenomenon that it is and which we all have individually to monitor in
ourselves. Felicitations on the 20th Anniversary!
— Anita
Auden Money
Academic Counsellor and Writer,
London, U.K.
I
am delighted to learn that Re-Markings is celebrating the 20th anni-versary
of its publication with the current issue. I have been privileged to appear on
its pages through my conversation with Prof. Nibir K. Ghosh and Dr. Sunita Rani
Ghosh, a conversation that went a long way to make my life and writings
familiar to readers, writers, academics and scholars in different parts of the
world. Again, it was a pleasure to be included as a poet in A World Assembly
of Poets, the signature special volume published by Re-Markings in
2017. Re-Markings is doing commendable work, under the exemplary
leadership of its Chief Editor, Nibir K. Ghosh, in addressing issues and
concerns seminal to main-stream as well as marginal literatures. My frequent
conversations and occasional meetings with Prof. Ghosh provide much food for
thought and reflection. In extending my heartfelt felicitations to Re-Markings
on this memorable milestone, I am optimistic that it will continue to shed the
light of wisdom in creating a world without borders and barriers.
— Sharankumar
Limbale
Dalit Literary Icon and Activist
[Dear Professor
Ghosh,] I am glad to learn that Re-Markings, a literary journal of
repute under your eminent editorship, is celebrating twenty years of its
continuous publication with a special number to be brought out in March 2021. As
an eager reader, and an occasional contributor, of Re-Markings it is
really consoling to find that a non-commercial lite-rary journal has survived
twenty years of rampant marketisation, setting up a secure enclave for creative
writing and critical discourses. Besides, Re-Markings has served as a bridge
between languages across seven seas as its numbers focussed on world poetry and
literary theory evidence this. I offer my greetings to you on this occasion and
wish a long and fruitful journey ahead for Re-Markings.
— Arun
Kamal
Sahitya Akademi Award recipient
Writer and Poet
Congratulations
Dr. Ghosh on two decades of Re-Markings, your distinctive journal that
celebrates the life of the mind as it provides a platform for scholars,
artists, and poets from around the globe to share commentary, insights, and
revelations, and connect with a devoted international audience. I’m very impressed
by the wealth of knowledge and inspiration you present year after year with
articles that reveal, assess, illuminate, and provide hope. Your own powerful
words link your contributors and an involved audience with writing that
transcends geographical borders. I admire your tireless efforts as well as your
generosity, compassion and inspiration, and your gift for offering solace and
wisdom even in the dark times. On a personal note, I am grateful for your very
welcome encouragement and friendship, and am extremely honored by your careful
attention to my work. And I especially appre-ciate that, with each issue,
Re-Markings confirms that we are all interconnected, all more alike than
different, all stronger together. Many thanks and best wishes for continued
success Dr. Ghosh.
—
Robin Lindley
Features Editor, History News Network,
Seattle, USA
20
years of Re-Markings! Twenty. That
sounds like a lot. But it's over quickly. What did we do 20 years ago? Were we
in love? Have we started a new job? As if it were yesterday! In the special
number, Vol.16 No.4, November 2017, I am represented with some poems. As if it
were yesterday! To get to know Tijan M. Sallah and Nibir Ghosh! What honour!
What a fundamental exchange across continents! Europe-Asia-America-Africa. And
you started this dialogue, Nibir Ghosh. I wish the anniversary edition the warm
words it needs and the strength for another 20 years! Then we'll talk again. I
really hope so!
— Tuncay Gary
Poet and
Director, Literatur
& Theater Werkstatt, Berlin, Germany
Re-Markings
is a true world ambassador representing and giving voice to the craft of
writing and her crafters: the writers. Its international reach serves a very
familial role: introducing writers to one another and keep-ing the connection
strong and sustained. Happy 20, dear Re-Markings! May you grow from
strength to strength for many years to come!
— Raks Morakabe Seakhoa
South African Writer and Activist
CONTENTS
Encomiums: Re-Markings@20 / 7-13
‘Art can comfort and disturb’: A Conversation
with Robin Lindley – Nibir
K. Ghosh / 14
Views
from California – Jonah Raskin / 29
Reflections on the 2020 Election for the U.S. Presidency / 29, A Song for Louise Glück: Nobel Prize Winner in Literature 2020 / 31, Albert Camus’s The Plague: A Prescient Work of Fiction for the Present Day / 33
‘Learn the narrative of the other’: A Conversation with
Joanna Chen – Nibir K. Ghosh / 36
Shaping Spaces for Multiple Equalities: Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, the Indian Renaissance Man – Shanker Ashish Dutt & Zaara Urouj / 44
Creative
Voices from Saint Lucia in Sent Lisi: A Contemporary Anthology – George Goddard / 52
Between Borrowed Frames and Reading Glasses:
The Text in the
Classroom – Jasbir
Jain / 62
Death in the Novels of Virginia Woolf – Smita Jha / 69
It’s Covid, Stupid… – Omkar Sane / 79
Rebirth of a Peepal Tree – Debasish Chakraborti / 85
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nocturnes: Ode to the Nuance of Music –Mini Nanda / 88
From Dalit Rickshaw-Puller to Celebrity Author: A
Conversation with Manoranjan Byapari – Anuradha Sen / 95
Atheism of a Visionary Martyr:
Bhagat Singh and his Select Writings – Roopali Khanna / 100
Salman Rushdie’s Midnight's Children: A Postcolonial Study – Mandeep Kaur / 113
Overcoming Disaster: Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning
– Saurabh Agarwal / 119
Racial Discrimination in Balli Kaur Jaswal’s Inheritance and Sugarbread – Anjali Singh / 125
From Symbols to Cognizance: Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus – Sangeeta Verma / 133
Woman as Nonconformist Rebel: Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine – Raja Pandey / 140
Poetry
Shernavaz Buhariwala – The Last Fight / 147
Asmat Jahan – The Cry of a Migrant / 148,
Agni Pariksha / 149
Short
Story
Worm’s Eye View – Seema Sinha / 150
Review Essay –
Reflections ‘Unmisted’: Nibir K. Ghosh’s Mirror from
the Indus – Rajesh
Sharma
/ 159
Views/Comments of
Contributors and readers on the Celebratory Anniversary Number
Nibir, these pages are very impressive. I'm humbled to see my praise for Re-Markings on the cover, and delighted to see the interview with Robin Lindley. I've only just skimmed the opening pages, but I can see how rich this issue is. Congratulations! Re-Markings is a beacon of light in our troubled world. - Charles Johnson
Sincere good wishes on this special occasion of RE-MARKINGS' 20th Anniversary. You say
Dear Nibir Ghosh, that's wonderful news! I am very happy to keep reading your PDF file in the anniversary edition. My first impression of the cover: it fits perfectly. The right royal color chosen to celebrate an anniversary. I then longingly wait for the printed book to hold in my hands and read.
With warmest good wishes and many thanks, Tuncay Gary
Dear Nibir, You've done it again - with a little help from friends near and far. I hope you can celebrate a bit. If I were there in Agra I would want to celebrate with you - maybe at the lovely hotel you found for me with a view of the Taj, if I remember correctly. Jonah Raskin
An astonishing piece of work, this number! 20 Years usefully lived and served, when the Enemies of Letters have turned away from the world. You are indeed a Lone Ranger in this trade. My congratulations. Best wishes, K. Narayana Chandran, The University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
Dear Dr. Ghosh, Congratulations on publishing yet another seminal issue of Re-Markings and thinking of me. I am honored to receive your email with the journal attached. Jilani Warsi, City University, New York.
Dear
Prof. Ghosh, What a delight to wake up to this celebratory issue. The issue is brand
tea in the morning, freshly picked and brewed—with essays that are sweet
delights! I have also gone half way through your essay and it is a moving, historical and
literary piece that captures the struggles of the American experiment. Wonderful work—both. Thanks, friend! Tijan M. Sallah
Dear Nibir, just read through your conversation with Robin Lindley and glanced at some of the other contributions, and have to congratulate you and your team for a highly interesting and varied selection of international contributions to this anniversary issues. Will read them over the next days. Best wishes, Walter W. Hoelbling
Dear Dr. Nibir Ghosh,
Congratulations for showcasing the creativity you are gifted with by carving out a new island for blooming persons of all creative endeavors. Dr Ghosh, I can view your passion for Re-Markings. You have seen its growth both with love and concern, as parents do children and a farmer would sprouting the Field. How challenging it must have been for you all through these long years to encourage the research scholars and maintain quality of your love. This special number is so alluring! I have seen the papers from the rear. I will write more. G.L. Gautam
Hi Nibir! Thanks so much for the 20th Anniversary Issue!
Congratulations on this very significant milestone. I have read it and it is
varied and interesting. Enlightening to read your interview with Robin Lindley and Margarita Lindsay's
luminous prose. More strength to you. Warm regards to Sunita. Take care.👍🏻😊
Mini Nanda
Thanks for the lovely new Re-Markings. What a delight to see
the excellence you have maintained and yet excelled. Warm regards, Rajesh
Sharma
Wow! Its a surprise sir. I have received the copy you
sent. Extremely grateful for such a gift. Best Regards. Tariq Faraz
I have just received Re-Markings. Congratulations. Great
reading the editorial, which is the first thing I read with relish. Prof.
Shanker Dutt
Thanks 🙏🙏🙏Congratulations once again. Really a fabulous journal. Will be a great honour if allowed to be a part of it. Gunjan Chaturvedi 🙏🙏🙏
What a pleasure indeed to leaf through this issue! Noted scholars and writers (including my one time professor and continued inspiration Dr Jasbir Jain), read worthy and thought provoking articles, and perfect production. Congratulations once again! I'm proud to be associated with Re-Markings. Urvashi Sabu
Thank you for keeping me in touch with you and other great scholars through your prestigious journal, RE-MARKINGS. Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of your dream project. Dr. Nand Kumar, former Principal, SSSS College, Meerut.
Dear Prof Ghosh, I was delighted to receiver the March issue of your beloved 'baby' RE-MARKINGS, which has turned 20. I have gone through your editorial and learnt about this glorious joyful and extremely satisfying journey that you have covered. Please keep it up. All my best wishes and blessings are with you. - Dr. Sunder Lal, Ex-Vice-Chancellor, Purwanchal University
Haven't finished reading all of the above yet. Altogether it makes
impressive reading.The commentators have done good analysis of the
writer.Congratulations. Your writings reflect a lifetime devoted to the study of
literature.Going through it all I felt like Alice in Wonderland. Pramila
Chawla, B.D. Jain College, Agra
