An expression of human suffering through Kahan To Thay Tha - Dushyant Kumar

About poet


Popular Hindi ghazal writer Dushyant Kumar Tyagi was born on September 1, 1933 in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh. He started his poetry writing with the name of Dushyant Kumar Pardeshi. From early on in class ten, he showed his flair of poetry which further got a new dimension during his studies at Allahabad University. He was also active with organizations like 'Parmal' and 'Naye Patte' and he got the company of active litterateurs in Allahabad. This friendship and camaraderie gave rise to many fellow poets and authors like Kamaleshwar and Markandeya.

Though Dushyant was prolific in poetry, drama, one-act plays and novels, he gained timeless popularity from ghazals. His expressions questioning the ironies of the times, state of poor in the society, class division with lines like 'creating a ruckus is not my intention' echo from the Parliament to the streets and the common man is able to find his voice in him. His ghazals were a song of cry and weapon of expression.

'Surya ka Swagat', 'Awaoz ke Ghare', 'Jalte huye van ka vasant' are his poetry collections, while in the form of 'Chhote-chhote saval', 'Aangan mein ek vriksha' and 'Duhri Zindagi' he has worked in the novel genre. Have contributed. 'And Messiah Mar Gaya' is his famous play and 'Mann Ke Kon' is a one-act play written by him. He has also composed a poetry-drama titled 'Ek Kanth Vishpayee'. The basis of his lasting fame is his only ghazal collection 'Saye Mein Dhoop', dozens of ghazals of which play a daily part in the dialogue and address of Hindi-country.


He died on 30 December 1975 at the age of just 42. A postage stamp has been issued in his honour by the Government of India. An effort has been made to preserve his heritage in the 'Dushyant Kumar Memorial Manuscript Museum'.


Context of the poem

The ghazal Kahan To Thay Tha is an expression of human suffering. The poet has described the strains of human living in both a pessimistic as well as in a positive manner. The poet states that even after Indian independence, the majority public is still under poverty and lacks development. He laments that the basic needs of food, clothing and refuge are not being provided adequately to the commonplace man.

Full text of the poem in Hindi

कहाँ तो तय था चराग़ाँ हर एक घर के लिए

कहाँ चराग़ मयस्सर नहीं शहर के लिए

यहाँ दरख़्तों के साए में धूप लगती है

चलें यहाँ से चलें और उम्र भर के लिए

न हो क़मीज़ तो पाँव से पेट ढक लेंगे

ये लोग कितने मुनासिब हैं इस सफ़र के लिए

ख़ुदा नहीं न सही आदमी का ख़्वाब सही

कोई हसीन नज़ारा तो है नज़र के लिए

वो मुतमइन हैं कि पत्थर पिघल नहीं सकता

मैं बे-क़रार हूँ आवाज़ में असर के लिए

तिरा निज़ाम है सिल दे ज़बान-ए-शायर को

ये एहतियात ज़रूरी है इस बहर के लिए

जिएँ तो अपने बग़ैचा में गुल-मुहर के तले

मरें तो ग़ैर की गलियों में गुल-मुहर के लिए



Literal line to line meaning


There was fixed pasture land for every house.

Where there is no light for the city

Here the sun shines in the shade of the trees

Let's go from here and forever

if you don't have a shirt, you will cover your stomach with your feet.

How suitable are these people for this journey?


God is not right, man's dream is right

There is a beautiful sight to behold.

They are sure that the stone cannot melt

I am desperate for impact in voice


If you live in your garden under the gulmuhar

If I die, I will die for Gulmuhar in other streets.


Further explanation of the poem

Dushyant ji satirises politics and says that politics shows people big dreams. He says that the leaders had announced that they will provide some lamps which is also symbolic of basic necessities and facilities in every house of the country. But the real situation is such that even in the big cities, there are no lamps i.e. facilities available. The leaders' announcement is on paper that it will bring prosperity in the lives of the people living in the houses, but their assurance remained in vain.


Imagery used in the poem


चिराग़
Lamps which are also symbolic of light removing darkness (poverty) and also of basic necessities and facilities.

दरख़्त
Tree. The poet says that a tree which is supposed to give shade has now become a provider or cause of corruption. He refers to politicians who promise something but perform something else , contrary to ideals and needs of the larger society. These institutions and establishments have started exploiting the common man. Corruption is spread everywhere.


The poet wants to spend his life living away from all these pains and sufferings and voices what every common man in these situations will feel.

कमीज़
Shirt or clothing - another basic necessity for humans. The poet says that this is also something that a leader should provide. But with the corrupt ways of the leaders and politicians, they are unable to do so. So the people have also lost the will to live in the place and want to go away and they have lost the will to fight. So they come up with their own solution - If they are without clothes, they will happily cover their stomachs by folding their legs on top. The people will have to come up with ways to survive.


सफ़र
Journey - in the context of the poem it means that the life journey of the people and their existence will not be long or will not be sustainable if this kind of corruption exists around them.


हसीन नज़ारा
Beautiful scene. At this point of the poem, the poet expresses further loss of hope. He says that there is no God in the whole world. But it doesn't matter for him, as he believes that God is just a figment of man’s imagination. It is likely that he expresses his anger and disappointment that God who could have helped the poor from the corrupt ways of the leaders and from the poverty, hunger and homelessness, is just a static being without action. He states that God is just a common man's dream. He states that if some people feel happy to have that beautiful scene in their minds for temporary happiness and consolation, so be it.


पत्थर
Stone - The poet says that the politicians and corrupt leaders are secure and overconfident in the feeling that stone cannot melt, which is to say that the state of life will be the same - people won't protest, people are tired, there is no God to punish these leaders nor to save the helpless poor.


आवाज़ में असर
Impact in voice. But the poet also has hope and desire. The poet is waiting for an impact and a spark of revolution in the voices of common people. He hopes that their voices will be loud and common people should organise and protest.

सिल दे ज़ुबान शायर की
Stitch up the mouth/voice of the poet. Powerful and corrupt leaders will always have an arrangement and system to use their money and power to try to trample upon the protests of people - whether poets or the public.


The poet shows an ironic similarity in the way minds think - minds of poets in comparison to minds of politicians - he says that just as caution is necessary for a ghazal verse, in the same way rulers also need to suppress opposition to maintain their power.


बग़ीचे में गुलमोहर
Our own garden of gulmohar


गलियों में गुलमोहर
Streets of gulmohar


The poet ends by saying that as long as we live in our garden, we live under the Gulmohar (here symbolising good values and rewards of hard work and values ) and when the season is ended , we die for the Gulmohar in the streets of others. In other words, as long as we live, we live for others as well, helping them and helping those who less privileged than us.

L.A. Weather - María Amparo Escandón - A Review

L.A. Weather
María Amparo Escandón


Author Maria Amparo Escandon writes a seemingly dramatic tale of the Alvarados - a Mexican American family living in Los Angeles. Oscar Alvarado and wife Keila have three adult daughters - Claudia, Olivia, and Patricia.



Claudia is a celebrity chef with a successful cooking show under her belt. Olivia is an architect and has twin daughters. Patricia is a millennial-type social media manager. The Alvarado family comes from money, allowing themselves the luxury and lifestyle that one can imagine but they are miserable in their ways.


The patriarch, Oscar, is suddenly showing signs of retreat and moodiness, a seemingly indifferent attitude which prompts Keila to question their marriage. All Oscar seems interested in is to watch the weather channel, much to his family's annoyance (and also to the reader ). Exasperated, Keila announces to the daughters that she plans to divorce him.

So we assume this book is about marriage and its complications? Not just yet.


The bomb drops at a time when an earlier catastrophe has just taken its toll on the family. The twins of Olivia had nearly drowned in the family pool much to the chagrin and anger of Olivia who blames her parents for lack of proper care. She too soon is at odds with her husband. So is this book about family dysfunctionality? Not really.


Slowly, the individual lives of the daughters come affront. Claudia suffers from a tumour and soon her husband’s reality is revealed. The third and youngest, Patricia begins to question the men in her life.

Supporting characters include their old nanny Lola who is currently taking up a self-proclaimed role of saving their neighbourhood from the greedy upmarket real estate companies - one of which is Olivia's. So is this book about ethnic neighbourhoods losing their houses? Umm,no.


This is a supposedly funny novel seeped in Latin American culture, that looks at a year in the life of one affluent Mexican-American family. But there is hardly time to connect with any one character. And nothing seems humorous here. Did the author mean to have a flavour of black comedy? Well the writing is just too poor and pointless for that. There is a sprinkling of many things at once. Children drowning, impending divorce, too much sex, a secret, memories, some more sex, real estate problems and a successful chef with a tendency to steal things. I mean why?




Weather as a character

The weather does figure significantly in the novel. Escandon made the weather the main character, so much so that Oscar seems to have some worry about the irregular weather patterns, keeping the reader on the edge ( for like 10 pages). But the girls and their problems envelope and cloud (yes pun intended) any climatic notions.


Problems with the book


Hard time finishing
There is nothing to keep going. Every issue is described badly and even the characters seem to be drafted lazily.


TV more than literature
Contemporary authors need to stop writing for TV and Netflix. Family issues, separation and divorce, affairs, secrets, insemination, crazy weather - all the makings for a TV show and hence no literary quality to the book at all.


Character shaping
I didn't connect with the characters (which is my biggest pet peeve with contemporary books) and too many of them.


Too polarized
All men are wrong, all husbands are cheating or useless or ‘ not the type.’
Enough said.

Morally lacking
What exactly is the author justifying here? Its ok to have sex with multiple partners to get clarity in your notion of a partner? Or to check which guy is good in bed? Or that it's fine to drop the plan of separation after thirty plus years of marriage on one fine unsuspecting day?



The storylines keep jumping and one cannot keep track of what or where the direction of the novel is.


Injustice to Latin American culture
Truly, because I have read amazing books over the years.

One good and only good takeway?  Picturesque description of the lovely city of L.A. Thats about it.

Brief on Our Hired Girl - a poem by James Whitcomb Riley

Our Hired Girl - a poem by James Whitcomb Riley

About poet

Born in Indianapolis in 1853 James Whitcomb Riley's popularity is largely based on his poetic portrayal of the common man and his hardships whether he is working on the farm or in the workshop.

Riley was born in the little country town of Greenfield, twenty miles east of Indianapolis in 1853. He dabbled with being a painter first painting advertisements for patent medicines and then for the many local business firms. Later on he tried his hand at writing for newspapers. Eventually he broadened his worksphere to and became a travelling lecturer, and reader of his penned poems.

Much of his poetry charms us with its presentation of rural life. The Old Swimmin'-Hole and 'Leven More Poems (1883), is a purely delightful poem collection. Our Hired Girl is one from this collection.


About poem


Although Riley also wrote on important subjects, he is best remembered as the poet of Indiana’s ordinary people. Two such people are the Raggedy Man and ‘Lizabuth Ann, the hired girl. Unlike Little Orphan Annie, who is working for her keep, the hired hand and the hired girl are working for a busy farm family and receiving wages. The Raggedy Man was a real person that Riley knew as a boy. As in many of Riley’s poems, we see the hired hand and ‘Lizabuth Ann from the perspective of the child who narrates the poems. Both The Raggedy Man and Our Hired Girl offer insight to the type of work done on farms and in farm households during Riley’s youth. Although they are humble people, it is clear that they are kind, good humored, and willing to take time out from their work to pay attention to children. They are people who will shake a crunchy apple down from the apple tree or offer a child a slice of warm custard pie.

Entire poem can be found at -
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44954/our-hired-girl

Glimpse into Hindi poem Manushyta - Maithili Sharan Gupt

About poet


Maithili Sharan Gupt


Swarnalata, Rasikendu, Dadda or Rashtrakavi. So many salutations to a writer who was a pioneer in Khari Boli (plain dialect) . These were the names that were used to address the great Hindi poet and novelist Maithili Sharan Gupt. Born on 3rd August 1886 in Chirgaon near Jhansi, Gupt and the written word couldn't be separated for long. Books and newspapers influenced him a lot and so in his childhood, he used to write chhappay (A simple verse poetry with six stanzas)

Under the name 'Swarnalata' (literal meaning lustrous). When that became popular locally he was guided by his teachers to write more. In his adolescence he started using the names 'Rasikesh' or 'Rasikendu' (literal meaning lord of the senses),etc. He diversified his writing into translation work under the name 'Madhup' (literal meaning Honeybee).

He got inclined towards poetry while reading 'Laghu Siddhant Kaumudi'. Also guided by a learned scholar Acharya Mahavir ji, his poetry got published in the then popular magazine ‘Saraswati’. Initially he composed poetry in Braj language and wrote many aphorisms in Sanskrit verses.


Agitated by the atrocities of the British government and heavily affected by the freedom struggle, Gupt wrote poems against the British under the names 'Bharatiya' (literal meaning Indian) and 'Nityanand' (literal meaning Perennially Happy ). The Indian literary world of the time used to call him 'Dadda'. (literal meaning - a learned elder person )

Gupt was one of the most important modern Hindi poets. He is considered one among the pioneers of Khari Boli (plain dialect) of literature of poetry and wrote in pure dialect as well. He distinguished himself as a writer of elitism in language rather than the commonly used language. Most Hindi poets favoured the use of Braj Bhasha dialect. He was a recipient of the third highest (then second highest) Indian civilian honour of Padma Bhushan. For his book Bharat-Bharati (1912),widely quoted during India's freedom struggle, he was given the title of Rashtra Kavi by Mahatma Gandhi. He passed away on 12 December 1964.


He was awarded Mangala Prasad Award for 'Saket'. The President had nominated him as a member of the Rajya Sabha. The Government of India decorated him with 'Padma Bhushan'. His birth anniversary on 3 August is celebrated as 'Poet's Day' in India every year.

Maithili Sharan Gupt's contribution to Hindi Literature

Two epic poems - Bharat-Bharati (1912) and Saket (1931)


Other Poetry - Khandakavya: Rang Mein Bhang (1909), Jayadratha-Vadh (1910), Shakuntala (1914), Panchavati (1915), Kisan (1916), Sairandhri (1927), Vaksanhar (1927) ), Van Vaibhav (1927), Shakti (1927), Yashodhara (1932), Dwapar (1936), Siddharaj (1936), Nahusha (1940), Kunal Geet (1941), Karbala (1942), Ajit (1946), Hidimba (1950), Vishnupriya (1957), Ratnavali (1960), Urmila (unpublished, 1908-09)


Story-based essay poetry: Patravali (1916), Vikat-Bhat (1928), Gurukul (1928), Arjan and Visarjan (1942), Kaaba (1942), Pradakshina (1950), Yudh (1950), Kavi Shri (1955), Nal Damayanti (unpublished, 1910-11)


Essay-poetry: Bharat-Bharati (1912), Hindu (1927), Raja-Praja ( 1956


About the poem Manushyta

The poem Manushyta is essentially a poem which calls out and inspires humans to live selflfessly and to understand the true purpose of life - which is sacrifice for the fellow being.

Maithili Sharan Gupt brings in many elements of the world and compares them to humans. He does this to ultimately say that there is only one duty of man and that is to die for a fellow man.

The poem is available in the orginal language at 
https://www.hindikavykosh.in/2022/02/maithlisharan-gupt-kavita-manushyata.html


English literal verse by verse translation of the poem -


Die, but die in such a way that everyone remembers.

If it is not a good death, then die in vain, live in vain.

Not the one who didn't live for you.

This is the animal instinct to graze on your own.

He is the man who died for man


Saraswati Bakhanavi is the story of the same generous person.

The earth feels grateful for that generosity.

The living fame of that generous person always shines;

And the entire creation worships that generous person.

The unbroken soul that fills the infinite world.

He is the only man who dies for man.



Sympathy is needed, he is a great personality;

bewitchment is always made by itself.

Contradiction flowed in the flow of Buddha's mercy.

Should the polite people not bow before you?

Aha! Only he who does charity is generous.

There is a man who dies for man.


Infinite Gods are standing in infinite space.

The great ones who are raising their arms in front of us.

Everyone should rise and grow with mutual support.

Now all of you should get tainted in the immortality mark.

Live as if you are of no use to anyone else.

He is the only man who dies for man.


“Man is only a friend” This is great wisdom.

Old scriptures’ self-proclaimed father is a famous one.

There are definitely external differences in karma according to its results.

But in inner self there are authentic scriptures.

It is unfortunate that there are no brothers and the pain of the brother is not there.

He is the only man who dies for man.


Let's play happily in the desired path.

Pushing away whatever adversities befall them.

Yes, there should be no difference, no difference should ever increase.

Everyone should be a vigilant sect of the same sect.

Only then is there a strong feeling that one can shine.

He is the only man who dies for man.


Don't ever forget to be intoxicated with trivial finances.

Saints should make you proud.

God is here at the end

The kind poor brother has big hands.

Too unfortunate to be filled with dark feelings

He is the only man who dies for man.

Manushyta Summary

Maithili Sharan Gupt compares humans to other creatures in nature and says humans have greater power of thinking, understanding and analysing the sorrow of others. Man is not merely a physical animal . He further explains that the mundane activities of animals like daily grazing, aimless wandering in the fields is all just play in the eyes of a capable human. He rises above all this when he does his duty which is capable only of him.

When animals go to pasture, they graze only for themselves, but humans are not like that. Whatever he earns, whatever he creates, he does it for others and also with the help of others.


Gupt considers those who are concerned about the happiness and sorrow of their loved ones as humans but is not ready to accept that those humans have all the qualities of humanity. The poet considers only those people as great who worry about others before the happiness and sorrow of their own. He expects a human to have those qualities by which the man remains in the memories of others for centuries even after leaving this mortal world, that is, he remains immortal even after death.
Manushyta Stanza explanation

Stanza explanation

In this poem the poet is trying to explain the true meaning of humanity.

In the first stanza, the poet says that we should not be afraid of death because death is certain but we should do something so that people remember us even after death. A real man is one who learns to live and die for a fellow human.

In the second stanza the poet says that we should become generous and giving.

In the third stanza, the poet says that there are many examples in the Puranas (scriptures / holy books) of those people who are still remembered for their sacrifice. A true man is one who knows the value of sacrifice.


In the fourth stanza, the poet says that there should be a feeling of kindness and compassion in the minds of human beings, the one who lives and dies for others is called a human being.

In the fifth stanza the poet wants to say that there is no orphan here because we are all children of that one all-knowing God. We should think about discrimination.

In the sixth stanza, the poet wants to say that we should be kind because even God welcomes all kinds of nature in humans - bad or good.. Therefore, we should do charity and welfare for others.

In the seventh stanza, the poet says that the external actions of human beings may be different, but the holy books testify that everyone's soul is one, we are all children of the same God, hence all human beings are brothers. And man is the one who helps other humans in their sorrow.

In the last stanza, the poet wants to say that man should walk on his chosen path while removing the calamities and obstacles, should maintain mutual understanding and should not increase discrimination. Only a person with such thinking can bring welfare and salvation to himself and others.

Weyward - A review and missing of Gilbert's Signature of Things

Weyward - Emilia Hart

Three timelines - three women. Switching back and forth between the 1600s and 2019, the novel shows the plight of women unable to live and have a life and career which they desire- healing, education, freedom and even essential safety.




In 2019, twenty-nine-year-old Kate Ayres escapes from her abusive boyfriend in London to Weyward Cottage, Crows Beck, Cumbria. This almost hauntingly described property is bequeathed to her by her late Aunt Violet. Initially deeming it only as a temporary refuge, Kate is just relieved to be safe. But then she starts to discover her lineage, her family’s history and the incredible story of her Aunt.


In 1942, sixteen-year-old Violet Ayres leads an unfair and discriminatory life in her home at Orton Hall. Her proud aristocratic father and younger brother Graham is all the family she has after the mysterious death of her mother. Her days are filled with findings in the natural world, insects and birds and tiny creatures of soil and air. She is bright and quick to learn but is constantly put down by her merciless father who only wants to see her married off well to a treacherous cousin. After an innocent mistake on her part, she is cast off from all that she was familiar with - even her education. But this turn of events sheds light on her mother’s death.



In 1619, twenty-one-year-old Altha Weyward, a natural healer, is on trial after the death of a villager. Accused of witchcraft and imprisoned in a dungeon cruelly, she recalls the incidents which led to her state.



Problems with the book which are my personal opinion


Uninspired writing

I wonder how and why this book really is in the top read of 2023. The prose is commonplace, the story is predictable and the style is not really page-turner even though it's made out to be one. Writing style was stale and the charm of a classic was missing for a book which has elements of historical fiction.



The magical realism to me really felt flat and not magical at all. For a novel which is about witchcraft or atleast its history, the element of surprise and delight were hardly there. The raven which flies at the climax to save Kate could very well be like an alarm clock buzzing at an expected time, thats about it.


Nature connection is bland
I remember reading The Signature of Things by Elizabeth Gilbert and to date I can feel the magical quality of nature described in the book, of Alma Whittaker’s passion for botany, the wildness and danger and enigma of woods and forests when one is on your own or out only to discover and learn.


Characters are not well articulated. The relations are not drawn from a descriptive place. We are so much into the action that just the abusive relationship between Kate and her boyfriend is depicted. What about her mother, why isn't more of graham and violet shown? And why not a portrayal of Violet's mother and she with her husband?


Polarized Femininity
I am done with books in the garb of contemporary fiction which should actually have a flag of wokeness. I mean every man in this book is bad. Either authoritative, dictator, rapist or abusive. Yes there are very real and hurtful cases in the world but will a novel like this begin to care about real women? I don't believe so.


Fitting in
I agree with this viewpoint I found on Goodreads -

‘It seems like Weyward was maybe trying to fit in amongst the canon of female rage or revenge stories, but there's just something that's missing. This doesn't provide the catharsis that I want from a female revenge story, as there's too much time spent on women being brutalised. Justice is fleeting and the solution to being unsafe is being alone.'

Malcolm Muggeridge - 365 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

Malcolm Muggeridge


Similar to Dorthy Day, Malcolm Muggeridge initially experienced a life of lost cause. Born into a family where the socialist upbringing was utmost, Muggeridge found relief from the ‘chaos’ after he embraced Christianity and had a teaching career in India. The latter shaped his iconoclastic nature, in addition to witnessing the prevalent caste system.


Muggeridge’s writing career started as a journalist writing for newspapers like Calcutta Statesman, Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph etc. He also worked and lived in many countries like Egypt, Moscow and the experiences and observances were found in many of his articles. His career saw a wide array of work - in radio and television and editor of the British humour magazine Punch.


*Malcolm used the printed word, television and invitations to address attentive groups to oppose abortion and euthanasia, support the rights of the mentally and physically handicapped or boldly disagree with governments and society. Public reaction to the controversial Malcolm Muggeridge was strong, though not always favourable.

Malcolm's journey to faith encompassed much of his life. In spite of his concern about the drift of the Christian church via liberalism and permissive morality into moral chaos, he eventually joined the Catholic Church because of their strong stand against abortion and birth control. The dedication and compassion of Mother Teresa and Fr. Paul Bidone was instrumental in Malcolm joining the Church.


*source - Wheaton archives

Jesus Rediscovered

Jesus Rediscovered is a collection of some of Malcolm Muggeridge's answers to some deep questions regarding Christianity, religion, and life. Written in a "stream of thought" and conversational manner, the book is philosophical, reflective and contemplative.



An extract from the Foreword of the book - ‘They do not set out to present a coherent, or even consistent, statement of faith. I am well aware that they are often contradictory, repetitive and imprecise; I have deliberately refrained from trying to trim and prune them into conveying an impression of coherence and consistency which would falsify my own actual mental state. All they represent and it's little enough is the effort of one ageing twentieth-century mind to give expression to a deep dissatisfaction with prevailing twentieth-century values and assumptions.’

J R R Tolkien - 364 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

J R R Tolkien was an author, scholar, philologist and professor at Oxford University and author of the now widely popular The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. As a philologist, he is recognized for his contributions to the study of language in literature. In particular, his lecture Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics - published in 1936, the translated version was published in 2014 by his son - explains the poetic quality rather than just verbal quality.

Tree and Leaf - J. R. R. Tolkien (1964)

This is a collection of 4 works by Tolkien:

- On Fairy-Stories – Tolkien writes an article on why fairy tales / stories are just as relevant, important and can be read by any age.

- Mythopoeia – an argument in poetical form from Philomythus to Misomythus. The article supports the ;legends of myths.

- Leaf by Niggle – a short story told in a narrative way that attracts and keeps the reader glued. It’s a lovely tale with a moral which fits in with the rest of the works in this book.

- The Homecoming of Beorhthelm's Son – a drama set in old England after a battle with the Vikings. In the commentary of this piece he also discusses Beowulf.

 

Two different editions of Tree and the Leaf

Dorothy Day - 363 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

Dorothy Day

Today the Catholic Church is considering Day's possible canonization. But in her youth around the early 1900s, Dorothy Day was by her own words ‘lost and in a Bohemian life’. She participated in protest movements without understanding the true motive, experienced failed love affairs, a marriage, a suicide attempt, and an abortion.

After she came to identify with the Catholic Church, its various activities, missionary initiatives, she was attracted to it. Alongwith Peter Maurin, a French immigrant, she co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper. The mission of the newspaper was to have a society constructed of Gospel values. *The newspaper spawned a movement of houses of hospitality and farming communes that has been replicated throughout the United States and other countries.

*source - Dorothydayguild site

Initially working as a journalist on socialist newspapers, Dorothy Day’s spiritual conversion reflected in her later writings. She often wrote to promote the “arousal and examination of conscience”. She believed that one of the chief objectives of The Catholic Worker was to raise Christians’ consciences on many philosophical and practical matters.


Some of the topics she commonly wrote on were Christian hospitality, war and peace and encouraging a Christian pacifist stance on preventing future wars, rapid industrial expansion shortly after World War II, poverty and destitution, anti-nuclear issues and on the labour movement.


Loaves and Fishes


Loaves and Fishes: The Inspiring Story of the Catholic Worker Movement is the second major memoir by Dorothy Day released in 1963. The memoir is Day’s experiences after her conversion to the Catholic Church. She is happy and content with her decision, but has questions regarding the bureaucracy of the church. She also questions the secular movements around her in the world, devoted to Communism, Socialism, or Anarchism. She also talks about the co-founder of the newspaper, the movement - Peter Maurin. The book is narrated well with philosophy, smartly and compassionately explained beliefs, role models in a humorous and readable way.

Image - Originally published: New York: Harper & Row, 1963.

Flannery O'Connor - 362 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

Flannery O'Connor is considered one of the best short story authors of the 20th century. She wrote about religious themes and southern life, as well as religious scenes in the American South.

 




O'Connor’s work has been commented on as ‘stories about original sin’. Her writing can be described as being about the action of grace in the world, about those moments in which grace, usually in the form of violence, moves down on her comically content characters, sometimes opening their eyes to an atrocious comprehension and sometimes killing them. Many readers find O’Connor’s identification of the transcendent with an aggressive force repulsive and even more outrageous than the stories themselves. O’Connor on the other hand believed that a fierce shock was necessary to bring both her characters and her modern materialistic audience to knowledge of the potent reality of the realm of awe-inspiring mystery.

Source - FamousAuthors


Everything That Rises Must Converge

Everything That Rises Must Converge is a collection of short stories written by O'Connor and published posthumously in 1965.

The collection is classified as Southern Gothic literature. There are elements of mamacbre twists, eccentric characters and very absurd stories. But in O'Connor’s case the message is mostly spiritual. The background here is of slavery and after affects of the American Civil War.

Thomas Merton - 361 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

In 1933, Thomas Merton, then a simple unknown man, travelled and stayed in Rome. He explored various churches and religious institutions including Tre Fontane. The experience and the visit left a deep impact on him. Though he continued in his education at Columbia University.

After about five years, reading about English poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins' conversion to Catholicism and the priesthood, Merton was inspired to pursue his own vocation. He remained at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Bardstown, KY.



Today Merton is known as writer, theologian, mystic, poet and social activist. He published nearly 50 books and several pieces of poetry. His poetry was noted for being long, prosy, and autobiographical. His work shifts between the spiritual and the secular.*
* source - Poets site


Thirty Poems were published in 1944.


Merton's poetry is passionate and dramatic, covering a wide variety of topics. These can be spiritual, mystical, Biblical and everyday, mundane things.

St. Augustine of Hippo - 360 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

Why is St.Augustine known as the patron of brewers? Because his own life is a story of conversion from bad to good. The son of Monica, who herself became a saint, Augustine went on to be a theologian and philosopher. He was also the Bishop of Hippo Regius.

His important works include The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, and Confessions.



Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount


Though published as a commentary, this writing is Augustine offering thoughts on the various sayings of Jesus in the Bible’s New Testament’s Sermon on the Mount.


The exegetical writings of Augustin are commentaries on Genesis (first three chapters), the Psalms, the Gospel and First Epistle of John, the Sermon on the Mount, the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, and a Harmony of the Gospels. Many of his commentaries, like those of Chrysostom, are expository homilies preached to his congregation at Hippo; all are practical rather than grammatical and critical. He only covered the first five verses of the first chapter of Romans, and found his comments so elaborate, that, from fear of the immense proportions a commentary on the whole Epistle would assume, he withdrew from the task. Augustin’s other writings abound in quotations from Scripture, and pertinent expositions. His controversies with the Manichæans and Donatists were particularly adapted to render him thorough in the knowledge of the Bible, and skilled in its use.


Augustine undertook Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount Augustine before working on the Pauline Epistles because he considered chapters 5-7 of the Gospel of Matthew (the Sermon on the Mount) "a perfect standard of the Christian life".


Source - Christian library.