Whatever.....

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=No+Part-timing+This&artid=qQsJ6B2YUoU=

My best friend

Also happens to be my husband

Book Review

Here's an old assignment from IIM that I just refound somewhere on my comp. It's a real interesting book.

Book Review

Narcissus and Goldmund

Herman Hesse

“We thinkers try to come closer to God by pulling the mask of the world away from His face. You (artists) come closer to Him by loving His creations and re-creating it. Both are human endeavours and necessarily imperfect, but art is more innocent”. A magnificent idea is developed and explored in this classic novel by Herman Hesse. The author, through the contrasting characters of his two protagonists, propounds his philosophy that there are two ways of reaching the goal of realization. One is the path of the philosopher, who discovers the truth by cutting himself off from the world, and realizing through intellectual reasoning. The other is the path of the artist, who lives and breathes the world, and his experiences with joy, love, sorrow and suffering teach him the truth, albeit in a completely different way. This is the essence of this endearing and thought-provoking novel.

It is important to realize that the two protagonists of the novel are not so much ‘real people’ as they are abstract characterizations of two ‘kinds’ of people.

Narcissus is an ascetic monk, a rigorous intellectual, who remains in the monastery to become an abbot; the epitome of the masculine, analytical mind. Narcissus is a man in complete control of his emotions, not given to bursts of anger or anguish easily. He is looked upon as arrogant and supercilious. And yet, he has many admirers, who respect him for his command over Greek, his charming persona and his intellectual capabilities. Abbot Daniel, the head of the monastery remarks that Narcissus had “admirers, but no friends”. Narcissus also has a gift for understanding people- what motivates them, their character and their destiny, and studying people is an intense fascination for him. This inquisitiveness is also probably what fuels the curious friendship that springs up between the two seemingly opposite people.

Goldmund is diametrically opposed to Narcissus. He is a romantic, dreamy, flaxen-haired boy, with the soul of a child. He is lyrical, searches for beauty in everything, is enraptured by women and lives every experience with an intensity that often leaves him drained. He leaves the monastery in order to experience the world and find his true nature. According to Hesse, he epitomizes the feminine side of the mind. Goldmund is blessed with a quick intelligence, but is not intrigued by the problems of logic or mathematics. He had a heightened sensitivity to his environment, and lived through imagery and imagination. The author says that for Goldmund, “a Latin initial changed to his mother’s perfumed face; a long note in the Ave became the gate to Paradise”.

Narcissus and Goldmund share a unique relationship throughout the book. The relationship initially begins as a teacher-student (probably indicative of how the intellectual always seems to hold a superior position as compared to an artiste). Goldmund looks up to Narcissus and admires his many fine qualities. In fact the relationship is based on mutual admiration and wonder. Each knows that he can never be like the other, and probably, each finally realizes that the other’s way is equally right as his own. As the years progress, Goldmund comes into his own, and during their second tryst, they become more of equals. Towards the end, one feels that Narcissus even starts to acknowledge the superiority of Goldmund’s way, and that is why he brings him back to his monastery. There is a subtle power struggle between these two opposing schools of thought that runs throughout the book, and again this is probably Hesse’s way of trying to personify his two points of view.

The idea is superb, no doubt, but Hesse is more a philosopher than an artiste. He uses language plainly and simply to elucidate his idea, but not as a powerful creative tool. The narrative is quite dry in parts and misses the pretty turns of phrase that would mark the works of his contemporaries such as Hemmingway, Faulkner or Fitzgerald. Undoubtedly, some of the finesse is lost in translation from its original German, but the fact remains that Hesse will be remembered not so much for his literary stylistics, but for his sheer wealth of ideas, and his capability to articulate them with conviction.

Finally, one begins to feel that it is neither Narcissus, nor Goldmund who make the book beautiful, but rather their relationship. Similarly, in life too, intellectualism and creativity are most beautiful when they complement each other. What is the point of understanding the geometry of a snowflake without appreciating the beauty of its form? It is similarly meaningless to ponder the stars without knowing what they are. Great are those who can see both the mind and the soul in everything around them, and their journey will be all the richer for it.

Interview et al

6bridges.com is an internet global community of Indian professionals from IIMs, IITs, Harvard, Yale, XLRI, NITs etc. They have an interesting website.

They did an interview with me recently. Here's the link.

http://www.6bridges.com/Content.asp?chk=1&DataID=2282&ShowAll=1

BTW Music Chit Chat 2 was a bit sad - there were 10 people that showed up - including me and my uncle and aunt who live next door to the venue :) Guess the pouring rain and no publicity did not help matters....But Chandana did a great job talking about singing to win in competitions, and I spoke about practice techniques.

But I shall not lose heart. At least not yet :)