​

EDITORIAL

Since the dawn of civilization, the toughest challenge before mankind has been to proclaim with certainty the existence of the omnipotent, omniscient,  omnipresent and omnibenevolent entity called God. Writers, poets, saints and philosophers have deliberated upon the above subject since time immemorial to formulate, in their own way, the form, shape and function of the creator, preserver and destroyer entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that all is well on earth. John Milton states in the Invocation to the Heavenly Muse in Paradise Lost that his purpose in creating the immortal epic is to “assert eternal providence and justify the ways of God to men.” Milton’s resolve brings to the fore the eternal dilemma related to questions of good, evil, faith, justice, truth, and free will that have engaged the human consciousness in individual as collective capacities.

In keeping with the epic tradition of Homer and Virgil, Milton does follow the structural requirements of the genre but in terms of the subject chosen Paradise Lost is decidedly unique. Milton’s epic goes beyond Hippolyte Taine’s concept of literature being centred around “race, milieu, and moment” to embrace what is universal and eternal in time and space. The conflict here is not betweenheroes battling for kingdoms and empires but between Satan, the manifestation of Evil in multifarious shapes and forms, and God, the embodiment of truth, justice, compassion, mercy and love. It may seem ironical that Satan’s portrait, painted with exquisite touches of artistic perfection, at times overshadows the invisible power and splendour of God. Satan’s qualities of leadership marked by his carefully worked out speeches to uplift the spirit of his fallen army, his guile in devising strategies to perpetuate evil, his steadfastness in hating God, whom he considers his sworn enemy, and his courage “never to submit or yield” creates a doubt in the minds of readers whether Milton had intended to make an incarnation of evil the hero of Paradise Lost.

On the plane of ground reality, it is customary to celebrate the symbolic triumph of good over evil by destroying mythological effigies amid religious festivities. I call it symbolic because we seem to have become used to seeing the regular conquest of the power of good by that of evil in our day-to-day experience of life and events around us. When submerged in despair by the corrupted currents of the world, we cannot help doubting the existence of a supremely divine authority sitting in judgement to punish the evil and reward the good. When Satan himself acknowledges the power of God while lying in torment in the ever-burning fire of Hell, he knows the futility of a one-to-one combat with divinity. Yet, as wisdom prevails upon him, he refuses to beg for mercy and decides to use his foresight and intelligence to fight a war by proxy against God’s creation. Consequently, Satan appears in the Garden of Eden disguised as a serpent and tempts Eve, with charming flattery, to eat the ‘forbidden’ fruit. Eve succumbs to the temptation little realizing that she would be transgressing the Will of the Creator in the process.

When we witness the unholy and extremely powerful nexus between Lord Mammon and Lord Mafia succeeding in their nefarious designs, we have little choice but to patiently bear what Hamlet calls “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” in a spirit of helpless resignation. Be it an event of global import like the Russian invasion of Ukraine or ‘insignificant’ incidents like inebriated teenagers crushing, with their super-luxury vehicles, youngsters in the prime of their life and career or scores of ‘devotees’ dying in a stampede while seeking blessings of some self-proclaimed divinity, we have to believe that the ‘serpents’, with all the instruments of evil at their command, will continue to assert their power and affluence in dominating societies and nations.

What offers a ray of hope in such gloom is Milton’s conviction that God prefers as His abode “Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,” a view that resonates the idea put forth by Kabir, the Sufi saint, in one of his verses: “O Servant, where dost thou seek Me?/ Lo! I am beside thee./ I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in/ Kaaba nor in Kailash/: Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and renunciation/ If thou art a true seeker, thou shall at once see Me.” (I.I 13, One Hundred Poems of Kabir. Tr. Rabindranath Tagore)

Thus, all we need to do is look within. God is and will remain invisible unless the good lying dormant in us comes out and compels us to stand with the good and the just without fear of any backlash whatsoever. Evil has a ready nexus because it offers lucrative packages of immediate encashment value whereas the good offers nothing lucrative in material terms. Yet, when even a rare event shows good and justice triumphant it jolts us out of our amnesia and we momentarily begin to ponder over our own stand and values in life. Unfortunately, when the moment passes by, we return to the imperatives of our dayto-day existence and find comfort in indifference to the suffering of others.

Before concluding, I deem it a privilege and honour to greet and congratulate one and all with this celebratory 50th edition of Re-Markings that marks the completion of 23 years of our publication. This unique volume showcases the journal’s commitment to address issues like race, caste, class, colour, gender, religion, language, democracy and dictatorship. It is heartening to see in these valuable offerings how celebrity writers, academic luminaries, noted historians, activists and scholars affirm that the struggle against the forces of evil must continue no matter how small the gain. Rather than indulge in shadow-boxing with adversities and calamities, it is worthwhile to be seriously involved in exploring ways and means to enhance the tribe of the ‘good and the righteous’ so as to reduce the predominance of evil and, thereby, make the world better.

​

Nibir K. Ghosh

Chief Editor

​

​

CONTENTS

​

---------------------------------------------------------

Honoring the Form – Charles Johnson / 7

Viewpoints from California – Jonah Raskin
Iconoclasts: Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman and Fellow
Travelers / 12, Don’t Call them Exotic: Aliah Husain’s Liberating
Portraits of South Asian Women / 17, Re-Markings@23 / 19

Richard Wright and the Haiku Blues – Ethelbert Miller / 21

Conversation with Renowned Visual Historian and Filmmaker Ken
Burns on His Our America: A Photographic History
Robin Lindley / 25

The Delinquent Devotee: Jejuri’s Mock-Mystical Turns
K. Narayana Chandran / 36

Why Dalit Literature Matters – Shanker Ashish Dutt / 51

The Clash of Civilizations and Problematic Interpretations
Abdul Shaban / 65

The City of Light, Dust and Ashes – Rajesh Sharma / 71

Language Endangerment: Threats, Challenges and Solutions
Prasannanshu / 77

Why Do We Write? – Deena Padayachee / 88

James Baldwin as Spokesman and Prophet:
A Birth-Centenary Tribute – Nibir K. Ghosh / 91

Tread Softly Stranger: The Glass Menagerie – An Analysis
Shernavaz Buhariwala / 101

Role of Local Languages in the Spread of Indian Spiritual Wisdom
Bhavesh Chandra Pandey / 108

Understanding the Silencing of Nature:
An Ecocritical Reading of Literature – R. P. Singh / 112

​

Transformation of 'Gypsy Archetype' through
Children's Literature: Rumer Godden's The Diddakoi
Anchal Meena & Smita Jha / 118

Tao’s (Dis)Possessed Utopias: A Study of Metaphors and Symbolic
Allegory in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed
Brahamjeet Singh / 126

Intersection of Memory, History and Culture in
Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Novel By the Sea
Khushnaaz Mansoori / 133

Poetry

Four Poems – Tijan M. Sallah
Chocolate and Angels / 140, Anthill for a Friend / 140,
Mind Prisoner / 141, Self-Search / 141

Two Poems – Shanta Acharya
The Waiting Room / 142, It Happened / 143

Tanjong Katong – Cyril Wong / 144

Two Poems – Lalit Mohan Sharma
Regimented Voices / 145, Dissolution / 146

Reflections of My Life – Sin Keong Tong / 147

Two Poems – Rajeev Khandelwal
The Waning Light / 148, The Puzzle / 149

Review Essay

Between Art and Resistance: Poetry, Translation and Reading
D. J. Singh / 150

Book Review

Krupa Sindhu Nayak’s Going Beyond – S. P. Swain / 156

Mapping the Mind, Minding the Map. Ed. Basudhara Roy and
Jaydeep Sarangi – Navleen Multani / 158

​