Review Essay
Shaping Minds and Changing Lives
Pallavi Sharma Goyal
“A
reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives
only one.” This meticulous portrayal,
attributed to Jojen Reed in George R. R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons,
which expresses the strong bond present between books and their readers, can be
applied to the latest book, Global Luminous Voices, by Nibir K. Ghosh. In
a single book, a reader can experience a vast multitude of facets of life. The book
feels like long conversations held across the globe against the discrimination
of caste, creed, colour, gender and reaches at its culmination while pondering
over the queries of coexistence with Nature.
The
book proffers a task that one can perform during one’s lifetime to make this
earth a better place; so even after millions and millions of years of civili-zational
journey, one would peruse this earth, trace the different pathways and yet
share an intellectual and aesthetic oneness, a unique power conferred on
mankind.
In
the panoramic view of the book, the reader finds himself roaming across the
American, African, European and Indian societies and cultures, depicted in
their literary dimensions, in their artistic cults, in the vast lane of
discrimination where human survival experiences sundry resistance based on
caste, colour, creed, language, gender, physical disability and try to overcome
all such hurdles with an amiable and empathetic desire to maintain a
coexistence with each other. The book luminously echoes the voices of those whose
dire attempts have enabled civilisations to enjoy a few more perks of the
environ-ment by raising their voices against the destruction of this beautiful
earth and the associated sentiments. The book appears as a crusade in crumbling
humanitarian visions, and takes one through the corridors of memory where
reminiscences, wit, wisdom, survival and manipulation turn strong. It avers the
luminous aspects of those lives that became successful in bringing out the enlightened
versions of their lives before the world. In its structure, the epi-sodic
moments raise varied questions before the self-proclaimed intellectuals and the
determiners of the rights and wrongs of social, political and individual policies.
It
portrays a world that has been standing at the brink of extinction, where even
the contemporary natural disasters do not seem to suffice for humans to ponder,
analyse and reexamine their errors, where the global tour and travel companies offer
the wanderers to explore one of the most fragile landscapes of Antarctica, “as
the last chance of tourism,” and where the superpowers have decided to poke
their noses into the deep strata of earth, contaminating the last edge of our
all five elements to establish the fact that we as a human race have not only
been discriminating with fellow human beings but have also failed to learn the
lesson of harmonious coexistence with our environment. Thus, by disseminating
the efforts of those who have contributed to making this world a better place equally
and rationally, the essays come out as an Idiom of Hope.
The
very first discourse entitled “Ralph Waldo Emerson: Visionary Architect of
America’s Literary Renaissance” unveils subtle facts about America, which, from
being a “cluster of thirteen English Colonies” (17), gradually evolved into the
only superpower of contemporary times. The revolutionary proclamation of the
Englishman Thomas Paine that “... it is evident they belong to different systems:
England to Europe, America to itself” (18) puts forth the importance of
individual existence where one can sustain apart and yet be joined with one’s
counterparts, living in amiable harmony. The truth that, for a long time, the
position of America in the stream of literature was one of “plagiarising”
reminds readers of the fact that this world flourishes by the dynamic
conception of equity and togetherness. For those who once mocked, “Who reads an
American Book?” (18), the world must put the fact on fore that Chaucer, the man
who has been indebted as a Father of English Literature, borrowed literary
material from France, Italy, Germany, translated it into Middle English, and
gradually pioneered the way in making England a cornerstone of written artistic
works, academic research or printing marketed materials. In this regard, the
first essay on Ralph Waldo Emerson comes out as a prominent resource for those
who want to transform their country into a supreme global power with the
arduous efforts of the intelligentsia.
The
author returns again and again towards the question of remonstrance. The chapter
on Fredrick Douglass, “From Slavery to Freedom on the Wings of Words,” mirrors
the pathetic actualities of “coloured” ones' lives, the cruelty of the one who preferred
colour over the “less than human.” The suffering that a child undergoes after
his separation from his mother, the sudden turn of events when Sophia, a white
lady, transforms from being an empathetic woman into an apathetic white woman,
and amid all these storms, the zeal to read passionately, give the chapter that
integrity that was an inseparable part of the life of “An American Slave.”
The agony, pain and anguish of the American Slave is the crude, inseparable and
palpable truth of American dream that impacted and affected the “colours”
differently and against which the message of Fredrick Douglas on Life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness ushers more convincingly and strongly.
Distinctly,
Global Luminous Voices peeps into the lives of Law-makers and
Law-seekers. It marks not only the historical oppression, exploitation and
wrongdoings, but also searches for artistic excellence through a court trial.
The scrutiny of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti’s trial and conviction and
the delineation of the same in the play Winterset by Maxwell Anderson
propounds the significance of Literature in bringing out the truth, where the
characters are not artists alone but serve as spokespersons of the oppressed
and deliberately awake the people lost in ignorant slumber. The conversation
between “Mio” and “Gaunt” where Mio argues, “When a court panders to mob
hysterics...it may be due process of law, but it’s also murder” and the quick
response of Gaunt, “Certain Laws seem cruel in their operations; it’s necessary
that we be cruel to uphold them” (44) assert the infinite struggle of the
humans against their own creed, strengthens and yet mourns the fact that “small
injustice is easily subordinated to the common good of those who rule through
money and power.” (45)
Considering
the world as a manifestation of sundry desires, where jealousy and rivalry
could paralyse even the greatest of minds, the adulation and accolades that
James Baldwin receives from his literary friend, Tony Morrison, “the first
African American Literature Nobel Prize recipient” (64), from Amiri Baraka (aka
Leroi Jones) (65) and from Maya Angelou underline the divinity, the
indissoluble dimension of humanity and a paradigm by which one can upraise the
pennant of egalitarianism, supporting and strengthening the radiant voices
across the globe.
The
book reiterates its belief in James Baldwin’s words where he promptly argues
that “the place in which I’ll fit will not exist until I make it.” (66) In this
regard, these global luminous voices attempt to create a more conceivable world
far from any bias, bigotry, prejudice or any apathetic social conventions. It disseminates the zeal of Negroes, where,
while sobbing upon the admission of the truth that Black is a terrible colour
with which to be born into the world, they still stand as pioneers of harmony
and mutual respect: “Negroes are Americans and their destiny is the country’s
destiny.” (69) Apart from seeking a utopian coexistence for both White and
Black, it also suggests the universal reality of the entire world: “Whether I
like it or not, or whether you like it or not, we are bound together forever”
(71) and thus yearns for the innate desire that the world demands coexistence
and harmony.
The
book arrived at a time when the globe was much at peace. Since the attack by
America and Israel on Iran on 28th February 2026, the message of the
book gets more and more tangible and accurate as the chapter “American Democracy
on Trial” comes alive on the global platform. The writer jotted down his
concerns way before this disparaging war, on January 20, 2021, by pointing out how
“glaring ground reality inconsistent with avowed principles” (97) under
Trumpian leadership left real-world voices for resistance and change biting the
dust.
The
acceleration of war to destroy every productive enterprise of the enemy
country, and the growing power of the armed forces, the roaring admission of
General George Patton that “... no bastard ever won a war by dying for his
country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country,”
(50) rightly questions the real worth of patriotic sentiments when, bound by
man-made lines, people become ready to make a supreme sacrifice for their
country and leave the voices lamenting over the real gain.
The
theme of class consciousness and quest for identity runs throughout the book.
The Autobiography of Edouard Louis, the symbolic relations of “video games,
rap, drinking beer, playing football, going fishing or hunting,” (188) with men
and “loving the theatre, female vocalists and dolls,” (188) with women, the
instinctive belief in the importance of race by August Wilson “I believe that
race matters – that
is the largest, most identifiable and most important part of our personality…we
are black and beautiful” (92), and the experience of author himself as a
prisoner of war in “A Study of Kurt Vennegut’s Slaughterhouse-Ffive
emphatically portrays the fact that even in the twenty-first century the
discriminatory dimensions have not changed much.
Apart
from the imbued American vision, the book also brings forth luminous voices from
India. The first Nobel Laureate from the country, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore,
the global voice of India, the saint and philosopher, Swami Vivekananda, and
the proclamation of Sri Aurobindo are deftly incorporated into the words,
pragmatically. The cinematic vision of Satyajit Ray and the global admiration for
his art, as depicted in the essay, significantly highlight India's efforts to
make this world a better place through “The Bliss of the Inward Eye.”
Between
the lines, Global Luminous Voices reiterates the warp and weft of being
a woman. The Indian view of women's equality is critically analysed through the
study of Rajinder Singh Bedi’s “Lajwanti” and Gulzar’s “Dalia.” The grim
reality of a husband-wife relationship where the severest beatings by the husband
underscores the male chauvinism and the mere acceptance of the cruelty as their
fate by the wife in the story “Lajwanti” and the calm acceptance of Neeti Tai in
“Dalia” to the conspiracy of silence reveal the reality of the woman where one
who has gone through a fatal, life threatening experience of molestation cannot
even think of daring to provide any subsistence to other women and have to assent
to their predicament subjugated to the male dominance.
How
women, as mothers, conceal a divine power to bring out the best in their progeny,
the various voices of the varied essays demonstrate poignantly. The admittance
of Swami Vivekanand, “It is my mother who has been the constant inspiration of
my life and work” (116), the influence
of Emma Berdis Jones on the life of James Baldwin, the deferential demeanour of
Aristophanes for women depicted in the essay “Words and Worlds - Why Literature
Matters”: “I would rather stand three times with a shield in battle than give
birth once,” the statement of August Wilson, “the cultural environment of my
life, the forces that have shaped me, the nurturing, the learning, and all
black ideas about the world I learned from my mother,” (79) disclose the
significance of a woman’s role in converting, guiding and beautifying a man’s
life by teaching them to treat their counterparts with respect and care.
The
essay, “Paradigms of Evolution in Francophone African Women Writings: Leonara
Miano’s Twilight of Torment” opens a new window for those unaware of the
oppression, resistance and change in the predicament of women in Francophone
Africa. The acceptance by Leonora Miano in the novel Twilight of Torment
about the "perennial torment" of African Women brings to light another
crucial aspect of women’s world where, due to the extreme torture and
subjugation, the "deadening of heart" of women has changed and
affected the whole family structure across the globe. The voices concerned with
the Saharan and African descent, present in the novel Twilight of Torment,
explicitly accentuate the crisis of being a woman, and especially a black
woman, because “there is no place for a soft/black/woman.” (163)
The
elaborate commentary in “Rest and Unrest: Edward Thomas’ Pilgrimage to Nature”
records Thomas’s travel accounts and his unyielding devotion to Mother Earth,
where he “lamented the degeneration of rural spirit in England and recalled the
rural and cultural heritage of the past.” (183) This disquiet suddenly hits us
more when we acknowledge our dilapidated environment, resulting from the
avarice of so many. The adorable and environmental literary sermons of Edward
Thomas alert people that not every vision, spectacle, or landscape associated
with Nature is meant to be met by people just because it is there. Rather, it
should be handled, examined and refurbished with utmost care and affection
because of its fragility and its necessity for the upcoming generations.
The
symphony of essays not only covers the inquisitiveness regarding the bigotry,
prejudice and favouritism relied upon the licentious demeanour of the societal
coteries, but it also scrutinises the relevant threats imposed upon the
environment by the reckless development and acquisitiveness of human
civilisation.
The
book feels like a unified piece of art and yet offers multiple independent
perspectives. The transition between chapters is decisively smooth. The
chapters, “Words and Worlds: Why Literature Matters” and “Re-Thinking Relevance
of Literary Theories,” offer brilliant commentary on the relevance of literature
and literary theories. Though they might suggest a shifting point of view of
the writer, but collectively they provide the book a rainbow-like appearance
and manage to keep the theme interesting. The book strengthens the belief that,
as a human race, we can no longer afford a world that has proved disastrous to
many of its inhabitants simply because they are not of the same colour, caste,
creed, or sex.
The
‘words’, according to Ghosh, are for the torchbearers who wish to leave their
surroundings salubrious, who are the truthful vigilantes and who yearn for a
world where men uplift themselves from the factitious cares and superfluously
coarse labours of life and redirect them to enjoy those finer fruits of life
that make life more amiable, that make a place where one can go and directly
experience the compassion and nobility that have been the essential traits of
being human.
Words
in Global Luminous Voices invoke hope while peeping into the lives of novelists,
poets, story-writers, film-makers, environmentalists and most importantly into the
lives of the common man, recording their courage and perseverance against every
ill-will and, thereby, celebrating their refusal to be intimidated by any
pressure or discriminatory prejudices. It reminds us how persistent refusal to
surrender to power has made these people humble and yet determined advocates of
resistance and social change. The collection is bound to be an essential read
for students and scholars interested in straddling across continents and
cultures from the cosy confines of their homes.
REFERENCE
Global Luminous Voices:
Essays on Resistance and Change by Nibir K. Ghosh. Authorspress, 2025. pp.
246. ₹1400.
·
Dr. Pallavi Sharma
Goyal teaches English at Govt. SMS. P. G. College,
Shivpuri (M.P.) She is Executive Council Member of Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi
University, Sagar.
***
Published in Re-Markings Vol. 25 No. 2 September 2026 pp. 195-200.
