THE LAUNDRY JUNCTION OF TIME & THE UNDER BELLY OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
Dr. Jernail S Anand
Where three rivers meet, we call it Triveni. Time, too, is a river that keeps flowing interrupted. Past, present, and future are human constructs that help us understand it better. These three rivers of time meet at a juncture called present which acts as a laundry junction where the waters after the wash, are released into the lake of the past.
We celebrate life when people are born and also the moment of marriage when they can create more life, and finally, the time when they part away from the stream. I was looking at a recently watered field from which water had evaporated, leaving the earth dry. Where is the water that has evaporated? It is in the air because air sucks the water from the earth and deposits it somewhere else. Life too is taken away from a person here, and supplied at some other unknown place. The forces which are overseeing these operations are not only precise and perfect, but also, ever present, though always invisible.
As soon as we hit the earth, the first thing that we do is to forget that we are here on an errand. He who sends us here is always watching our progress. When we go wrong, he pulls the strings and brings us to woe.
Is suffering an equalizer and a synthesizer?
When we suffer for our wrong actions, how can we presume that there is no Big Brother always watching us? It is a very uncomfortable thought to realize that we are under a CCTV camera, and all our movements are being recorded. Even when we are at our worst in our loneliness.
The only thing that off sets this adverse situation, and nearly balances it is the fact that men are given to believe that they have wits and they can use them no end. As a consequence, they make calculations, buy properties, sell shares, and when they make millions, celebrate ‘their’ success. When they lose, they curse gods. Here lies their ‘error’ [remember: to err is human] If all the losses can be ascribed to the invisible forces, why not the success?
The Underbelly of Existence
Men nurture huge reserves of hubris. Individuality is for which we wage wars. Freedom is another ornament for which young men have laid down their lives. Our only problem is, we understand these things in the context of our physical life and the political conditions. The fact is, we are much more than that. We have to understand man in his ‘viraat rupa’. We try to see him in his ‘aviraat avtara’. We try to create him into a person who looks after his family, creates wealth, raises skyscrapers, and finally like Zymandias, is reduced to dust. We never look into that stuff in man which is indestructible, of which Lord Krishna talked to Arjuna. We forget that when we die, it is not more than drying of up water from a field which stays in the air. Similarly, we too are in the air, and can be deposited back in some other place.
Man’s ‘Viraat Rupa’
What is the ‘viraat rupa’ [cosmic identity] of man? He is simultaneously connected with the entire past that stands behind him and provides him a background, like a series of mountains. In that backdrop, he is here to perform certain deeds which are already scripted for him. Here we err. We err in thinking that we are independent, we have nothing to do with the past, we have nothing to do with the future. We are present, we have a free will, and we can do what we like. This is the error mankind is prone to commit, and which we people often make, and then, it is a saga of suffering all through.
Malovian Overreach
The genesis of the error lies in the knowledge which helped to make man proud of his bearing, and think of himself as an independent entity, a demi-god who can run parallel to god’s creation. What is happening today, it is annoying to gods, because, man has distanced himself from nature, and is headed on a self-destructive march into the heart of the mystery trying to undo its mystical mechanism. In trying to prove himself equal to God in creative prowess, he has actually shrunk into a small entity, who can be upset if there is no electricity to charge his mobile and laptop. He is a laptop genii, or bottled ‘Jinn’ of Aladdin. The marvels of man’s creative power mock at reality from the ramparts of fantasy. Man is fast receding into that fantasy, that virtuality, and while he thinks he has garnered heaps of knowledge, he has failed to realize what his past holds out as a lesson of life. Ravana still remains an epitome of knowledge in its greatest perversion. The Kalyuga has failed to see a man of his stature in whom we could see wisdom gone on furlough. We have yet to see a man like Duryodhana, whose ‘wisdom’ leaves on a pilgrimage of non-sense from where, there is no return. AI cannot replace the Gita, nor can it de-arm Arjuna. Man is under grave threat because he has chosen to isolate himself from the benign powers of nature and aligned himself with the toxic universe of the laptop. AI has the potential to make man far greater than himself. But the more his size increases, the more he dwindles in his humanity as well as his divinity.
In spite of the past offering a variety of intense wisdom, and the future holding out great promise, man’s present is locked in a futile search for himself. In fact, he has opened too many windows on his physical existence, that keep him confused and confined to his physical existence. The wisdom that he used to get from proximity to nature has been replaced with knowledge-based perceptions of reality. Passion for success and pursuit of pleasure have divested the divine aura that stuck to a human being. We are now ordinary persons, a subhuman race, even below the animals and vegetation, who talks of stars but has lost touch with the ground.
Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, [the Seneca, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka, Maxim Gorky and Signs Peace awards Laureate, with an opus of 180 books, whose name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia] is a towering literary figure whose work embodies a rare fusion of creativity, intellect, and moral vision.
This interview with Sudhakar Gaidhani has been conducted by internationally published Chinese poetess Yang Yujun. The Chinese version of this interview has been previously published by China’s WeChat’s Poetic Platform. The world-renowned Chinese poet Yongbo Ma has taken the initiative for this interview.
Q.1). How did Devdoot the angel strike as image of your Epoch?
Sudhakar–
First of all, I would like to thank you and dear poet Yongbo Ma for arranging this interview. To answer your question, I would like to tell you something different please.
As a child, I used to dream that I was a bird and flying. As soon as the dream broke, I would often fall off the bed. Later, I depicted this bird as Devdoot in the poem “Devdoot the Angel”. There is also an idea that an angel is a messenger of God. God is also a beautiful concept created by humans. Another thing is that there is a belief that God and His angels also free people from suffering. “Devdoot” is a the main heroine image of the family of images of this epic poem. By the way, this angel is also like a hero in this epic poem. This bird, based on the wisdom of many previous lives, communicates with the people of this era and tries to show them the path to the supreme happiness of life. This giant bird also mentions that it was with them in the era of Buddha and Christ. He warns them against the so-called spiritual preachers who frighten the naive people by spreading man made religious differences among humans. Because all religions are creations of humans.
Now let me add in short about of my epic poem Devdoot. The prologue of this epic poem contains the story of the creation of Devdoot.
The first Marathi canto of this Devdoot was published in 1981. The second canto was published in 1999 and the next three together, an epic poem of 555 pages, was published in 2004.
Some Marathi critics tried to make fun of this bird by calling it surreal. But 6 years after the creation of Devdoot the angel, the American National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, discovered that a bird like this sea bird was alive on Earth. This news came in newspapers all over the world. This is the incident of November 1987.
News was like this – “A fossil excavated from a rock formation in southeastern United States has been identified as history’s largest flying seabird, an extinct and previously unknown species that has a wing span of more than 5.5 meters”. After reading this news, one of the readers of my poem Devdoot immediately wrote a letter in the same daily, saying- “I am glad to state here that a visionary Marathi poet from Nagpur-India Mr. Sudhakar Gaidhani has depicted a similar bird in his poetry book Devdoot published in 1981”. After this my enthusiasm increased. I immediately sent the translated parts of Devdoot and the prologue of the poem along with a clipping of the reader’s published letter to the Smithsonian Institute.
Then I received two positive letters from the Smithsonian Institute’s Department of Paleobiology Museum Specialist. The first letter is dated 28th March 1988.
Second letter is dated 10th June 1988. Some of its lines are like this–
It is a rare occasion when science and poetry can meet with such a magnificent blend of serendipity. Under the matter of both letters is the signature of Raymond T.Ray II.
Now what I am telling you here that is wonderful and true. After the publication of the entire Devdoot, the 16 incidents depicted in it have actually become true. This is recorded in a Marathi book published on Devdoot.
Q.2). What role should a poet play in the contemporary society? I mean, was a poet born with a mission (obligation)?
Sudhakar–
In contemporary society, the role of a poet should also be linked to the feelings of the society. Because he is an integral part of the society.
Once a poem is expressed,
it is no longer the poet’s personal matter.
Rather, it becomes a part of the collective human mind.
Because the poet is also
an integral part of the social brain.
A poet who says he writes and publishes only for his own pleasure is deceiving himself.
Poetry is also an art of communication. And the poet communicates with the society through his poetic expression. With this social consciousness, he can also communicate freely with nature.
ii – Although no poet is born with a goal, later his inner mind keeps suggesting him to take up the flag of a goal. And he can take a definite role as the need of the society, the world. Because basically a real poet is a prophet, a philosopher. Poets who perform only for stage entertainment are performing artists.
Que-3) Your poems remind me of EI viejo con las alas enormes by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (The Old Man with Enormous Wings) What do you think of this story?
Sudhakar–
Sorry, I have never read this story. My reading of English literature is limited. The relationship of the bird in my epic poem The Angel is deeply moving to me. I had listened to the entire epic Mahabharata as a child. In it, the great warrior Bhishma, who fights for the Kauravas and falls wounded on the battlefield, touches Devdoot in the first canto, that’s all. There is nothing much beyond this. Because the giant bird in Devdoot is wounded by a hunter’s arrow and falls on a deserted island.
Q.4). Numerous literary works can be traced back to the Bible, how about your poems?
Sudhakar–
I have already said that the message of compassion conveyed by the great human beings like Buddha and Christ awakens the consciousness of humanity in humans. The martyrdom of Jesus impresses me more than the Holy Bible. The Jaataka stories in Buddhist literature or the miraculous short stories in the Bible are like a crutch to help ordinary devotees understand the truth.
Since these stories are related to faith, they do not take away the faith of the devotees. I think that even a mature scholar should not snatch these faiths of ordinary naive devotees. If they do so, their ignorance will increase and they will become aggressive. Because both Buddha, who denies God, and Jesus, the only son of God, are very necessary for those who try to live a normal life happily. Most of the short stories about Jesus in my Devdoot are inventions of imagination.
Q.5). Is the identity of Character of Devdoot change with the unfolding of the five cantos?
ii – Do you yourself grow (feel elevated) with your own works in the process of writing?
Sudhakar–
Devdoot gradually reached five cantos quietly. The first canto in 1981, the second in 1999 and the other three cantos together, the entire Devdoot, was released in 2004. It is because of these five cantos that Devdoot angel’s own identity and personality have been realized.
ii—The poet’s mature poetry creation gives him the joy of inner satisfaction. As the seed of poetry blooms in his state of contemplation, he forgets the sense of his own normality and, as he unites with an extraordinary state, he himself experiences the creation of a poem. Like a pregnant woman and the fetus in her womb. This is the elevated state that the poet gains from the process of creating poetry.
Q. 6)–. How did Ramayana and Mahabharata influence you and your writing?
Sudhakar–
There is no such thing as the influence of these two mythological epics on my poetry creation. But some of the characters in my epic poem Devdoot and my second epic poem “Shadows of Yoginis’s Dreams” are useful for expressing new content and beauty of thought. That’s all.
Q.7)— It seems that your five cantos are written from God’s perspective, that view of a philosopher than simply a narrator of world events?
Sudhakar–
Your question is about the principle of God related to the human world on earth. In the fifth canto of Devdoot, the solution to this question is in the dialogue between the Awadhoot-pilgrims who has reached heaven. God himself says that I am also the caring guardian of this world on behalf of the Creator. When these Awadhoots actually come before the Creator of the world, the Creator explains to them,
O Awadhoot-pilgrims on earth, all the gods and all the religions on earth are the creation of you humans.
Even God also says that God is just a beautiful concept.
Let it be beautiful. Anyway!
In all these five cantos, Devdoot gently explains this formula to the collective consciousness of human. If materialism tries to snatch the concept of God from humans, the common people will be very hurt. The world has experienced this fact. I have used to refer some how the basic thoughts of Buddha and Jesus in connection with the previous question. Anyway, now world events, even if they are temporary, can have some impact on the world. But a poet or artist does not consider them as a means of creation, but only as an occasion, and is in the contemplation of eternal creation, taking note of them. Everyone has two minds. One is the inner mind and the other is the outer mind. The inner mind is pure, it is not muddy like the outer mind. This inner mind easily entwines the poet’s poetry in the thread of philosophy. That is why an ascetic poet is a philosopher. Poets who only entertain on stage are artists.
Q.8)— Was there a particular event/incident in your early life that motivated/triggered you to start writing or you just naturally picked up writing?
Sudhakar–
To speak in this context, this inheritance from my mother must have flowed into my genes to some extent. This arrangement exists in the genetic system. Our genomes travel through human sperm for thousands of years with the memories of past lives. During this journey, the memories of some are destroyed, while those who do not, continue to travel through the capsule of genes, taking with them new memories. It is said in Jaataka stories that Lord Buddha had the memories of five hundred such births. We bury a grain seed in the soil and see later the same seed sprouts on its grave. The formula of birth, death and rebirth is also applicable to animals, birds and plants. My insufficient practice from my past life must also be attached to this birth.
Q.9) Do you normally start writing with a plot as with a novel or you just write on pouring out what pops out from your mind?
Sudhakar–
No. Not at all like a novel. While writing Devdoot the Angel, as I mentioned earlier, I took as a basis a small story hint in my mind. Later, as the journey of contemplation began, some small mythological stories got into the poem as needed. Something similar happened in the case of my other epic poem Shadows of Yoginis’ Dreams. You yourself are a deeply contemplative poet. Therefore, I do not think it is appropriate to say anything more. Here I am giving a recent poem of mine as an example.
WHEN THE POET IS GUILTY
In the abyss of the poet’s inner self,
the seeds of memory flutter
and fly like angelic butterflies.
When they settle down peacefully,
the embryo of poetry gradually
takes shape from their divine eggs.
The poet has to wait for the natural birth
of this new creation.
But when, due to the poet’s excessive enthusiasm,
the poem is born by cesarean section
before it is mature –
The poem constantly blames the poet
for its unnatural birth.
I also agree that poetry does not come out of the inner contemplation like an object coming out of a machine. It has to be shaped in a state of contemplation. For example – even if it is a diamond, it becomes brighter and more valuable because of its shapes. Every poet must be the first reader and critic of his own poetry. It takes penance to master all the arts.
Q. 10) Is writing part of your day- to-day life or something special or a project that you focus on?
Sudhakar–
I often spend late nights thinking about what new things I can think of and in the morning it takes on the body and life of poetry. Every poem has its own personality and character. A noble poem also stand nude before her ingenious devoted reader.The needle weaves the clothes to cover the naked but it itself remains nude still no one objects it for its nudity. The poetry is also similarly.
Lately I have been more lost in poetic contemplation. Sometimes in this contemplation, the thread of new creation is found, of course this is very useful for a long-term poem. These days I am meditating more on Buddha. Mahayogi Buddha, that is, Epic Yogi Buddha.
Q. 11). Do you have much interaction with your readers?
Sudhakar –
Literature is a communicative art. There must be communication between the writer and the reader. But this is not mandatory. Still, one thing is very important. Speaking of poetry, the poet’s poem should communicate with the readers. Poem can be obscure but if it is self-obscure? Then it can be counted as mad poetry. And the self-centered poet wanders in the mist of self-sorrow searching for own tears; and beg before himself for it.
The love of the readers is a very important issue for a poet. This is the respect that the poet receives from the readers for their creation. Therefore, every poet should treat his readers with great respect. One issue is that my low budget books were released easily, but I had to wait a long time for a six hundred page book. Today, for the new edition of my “Mahavakya” i.e. the complete Devdoot the angel, my friends, Marathi poetess and writer Mrs. Dr. Manjusha Sawarkar and Mr. Sunil Sawarkar, who love my poetry, came forward. They started a publishing house in Nagpur metro city under the name ‘Kusumaee Publication International’ and made my Devdoot epic available to English and Marathi readers around the world. Because other publishers did not dare to spend 5 lakhs (0.5 million) rupees. A poem can remain in the news due to positive or negative reviews, but it survives only because of the place it has found in the hearts of the readers.
Q.12). When did you start to take writing seriously ?
Sudhakar–
I started writing since my school days. But I really started writing poetry seriously from 1968. My first collection was published in 1973, which I later had to study in the M.A. Marathi course from Nagpur University.
Q.13) What would you call your style?
Sudhakar –
For me this question is not easy to answer. In the Marathi poetry world, free verse is considered a type of style today. But in my opinion, instead of free verse, it is a type of verse free style. In my opinion, poetry is a beautiful outburst resulting out of deliberation of innermost thoughts. It becomes the nucleus of the poetry. It balances the surface, middle and bottom of the poem. I consider such an invention as an easy but free, with depth and beautiful style. In short.that style is philosophical and mystical
Q.14). Do you think the identity of a poet affects your relationship with other people, especially your family?
Sudhakar—
No, I don’t think so. But in this poetic penance, my family is a little neglected. But Mrs. Gaidhani takes care of me. A few years ago, a leading daily newspaper used to have a column of my poetry. The honorarium I received for that gave me some support. In 1991, I lost my postal job to contest the parliament elections. I was defeated in the elections. In the later days, I had the support of my wife. At that time, the writing of the next part of the epic Devdoot was delayed. My readers love me along with my poetry. In 2004, when I had two major heart attacks, these friends helped me a lot. These friends collected the subscriptions and published the Marathi version of Devdoot. My birthplace Khapa is adjacent to the metropolis Nagpur. There, with the cooperation of the people of the village and the municipal council, a public garden has been opened in my name on two and a half acres of land.
Q.15) Do you normally write on schedule or write only when you feel like writing?
Sudhakar—
I have also mentioned this earlier. However, let me mention about a farmers movement I was also part of. Three decades ago farmers in Vidarbha region (of 11 district in Maharashtra state) were committing suicide due to debt burden and poverty. And the peasant leaders were doing politics. These pictures were disturbing me. In that mindset, I started a daily poetry column on behalf of farmers in a major daily in Nagpur. That column continued for more than two years as it became a reader favorite. During that time I wrote almost 12000 lines. And an unexpected incident greatly affected my later life.
Q.16). Of course once appear in the form words, all works have broad orientations. However, do you have a particular reader in mind when you begin writing (the so- called reader consciousness)?
Sudhakar—
I do not write with a particular reader in mind. It cannot be kept in mind in the creation of poetry. We don’t say the gold is beautiful, we say the jewelery is beautiful.
Poetry is not an easy – accomplishment. It require to bear the scorching of the meditation -energy, only then the picture language of the letters(syllables) possesses the essence with immortality. Using broken bricks of words,one cannot build castles of poetry.
In case of music,sculpture, painting, dance and acting it takes a considerable time to assimilate the minute delicacies of of arts. After that the flowers of those arts blossom.But about poetry, No! It’s very easy. Something enters the mind, oozes through pen and is mixed with words. That is called poem (for some).
YANG YUJUN
Yang Yujun, born in Beijing, now lives as an English teacher in Guangdong. Her poems and prose first appeared in 1986 and her own collections of Poetry Garden In Winger and The Hand On The Mouse Is Turning Cold have been published in Chinese and English. She has translated work of more than 5 million words including collections by thirty Chinese poets and two collections of short stories by Alice Munro. Also she has translated Sudhakar Gaidhani’s entire Epic Poem “Devdoot The Angel” from English to Chinese. Her poems have been translated into English, Arabian, Spanish, Japanese, etc.
First of all, we wish everyone a very happy Earth Day! Here’s a picture from regular contributing artist Jacques Fleury.
Image c/o Jacques Fleury
Poet and essayist Abigail George, whom we’ve published many times, shares the fundraiser her book’s press has created for her. She’s seeking contributions for office supplies and resources to be able to serve as a speaker and advocate for others who have experienced trauma or deal with mental health issues.
Also, the Educational Bookshop in Jerusalem, a store that has the mission of peaceful dialogue and education, invites readers to donate new or gently used books (all genres) that have been meaningful to them, with a note enclosed for future readers about why the books were meaningful. (The books don’t have to be about peace or social justice or the Mideast, although they can be). Please send books here. US-based Interlink Publishing has also started a GoFundMe for the store.
We’re also having a presence at the Hayward Lit Hop festival this year, and we encourage everyone to attend this free, all-ages event! Many local writers will share their work and we will also host an open mic.
Image c/o Carl Gorringe
Passing along a message from someone who contacted us. If you’re interested, please email Mark directly at jennybridge45@gmail.com
Hi there, As a seasoned coordinator of educational events, this is my official introduction. Mark is my name. I hope our conversations won’t be hampered by my hearing loss. For an upcoming workshop, I’m searching for an illustrator, cartoonist, or artist to work with on a project. I’ll go over the project needs in detail and pay your fees in advance if you can assist. Once I indicate what has to be depicted or drawn, you can estimate the cost.
Mark Stewart from Ohio, USA.
This month’s theme is Lost and Found.
Photo c/o Brian Barbeito
Brian Barbeito shares a mindful reflection on walking a paved road, finding a human place in nature. Rustamova Asalay depicts a farmer in tune with the sun and the cycles of nature. Stephen Jarrell Williams contributes several different ways of looking at and interacting with a city plaza. David Woodward contemplates life and aging while observing his garden, yet to bloom. Sayani Mukherjee dreams of flowers, rivers and mortality, biological life undergirding a modern city. Grzegorz Wroblewski, in a second set of poetry translated by Peter Burzynski, probes the corporeal and how we nourish ourselves.
Maniq Chakraborty speaks to being a lost traveler on a psychological journey. David Sapp writes of ordinary people and the weight of regret for their past choices, whether justifiable or not. Mykyta Ryzhykh’s poetry portrays people trapped in memory or dreamtime. Graciela Noemi Villaverde laments our human limitations: mortality and fragmentary knowledge. Sheila Murphy addresses isolation, confusion, and the weakness of language when it comes to expressing inmost feelings.
Bokijonova Madinabonu Batirovna’s piece explores the universality of grief and how it fragments and hardens some people’s selves. Denis Emorine’s novella Broken Identities explores the weight of the past, even a past we didn’t live through, and how it affects our sense of self. Tamara Walker (T.A. Aehrens)explores the practical and psychological process of repentance and healing from cultural sins in her novel Leaves from the Vine in an interview with editor Cristina Deptula. Vo Thi Nhu Mai’s elegant, understated poems express the weight of memory and unanswered questions.
Eva Petropoulou Lianou’s poem, translated from Greek to English, and then to Bangla by Md. Sadiqur Rahman Rumen, expresses a warmer view of the past and nostalgia for the simple kindnesses of her childhood. Sterling Warner’s poetry revels in nostalgia, nature, and culture – from Silicon Valley to Oktoberfest. Mahbub Alam describes in great detail the Bangladeshi New Year celebration. Rashidova Shaxrizoda pays homage to her cultural past and the poetic heritage of Alisher Navoi. Kylian Cubilla Gomez looks at nature and culture with a whimsical and curious eye. Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa learns from the past while planning for the future and playfully musing about the present.
Nigar Nurulla Khalilova’s poetic speaker leaves a beloved to pursue artistic dreams in a journey that resembles a camel caravan. Lalezar Orinbayeva reflects on how her youthful dreams have changed over time, but she has not lost her optimism or determination. Ismailova Hilola outlines events that inspired her to become a teacher, how she found her life’s calling.
Eshboyev Oybek Davlat Oglu also speaks to education, highlighting potential roles for e-learning. Shahina Olimova researches the use of role-playing games in English language learning.
Chimezie Ihekuna shares his life’s purpose, asserting his artistic independence and desire to make the world a better place through writing and music. Biljana Letic of the Balkan Beats radio program interviews Maja Milojkovic about the spiritual, intercultural, and humane inspirations behind her writing. Shamsiya Khudoynazarova Turumovna’s poetry celebrates the beauty, grace, and discipline that goes into crafting haiku. Vernon Frazer positions words and shapes and fonts onto three pages with a loose theme of music. Rizal Tanjung explores the nuances and ambiguities within Anna Keiko’s abstract paintings. Jim Meirose’s piece mutates language into a mix of fonts and verbs and sounds, giving the sense of flying a plane.
Jacques Fleury also experiments with language as he reflects on learning to “go with the flow” of life, even when life’s “flow” is uneven, in a piece crafted during meditation. Gabriela Marin’s gentle poems evoke dreams, intimacy, and the imagination. Duane Vorhees’ pieces speak to attraction and intimacy, longing for human and poetic muses. Sam Hendrian explores moments of human connection and faux-connection.
Eva Petropoulou Lianou urges human solidarity and friendship: she wishes for women to stand together and befriend each other. Dr. Jernail S. Anand’s essay reminds us that society’s leaders should represent ethical values beyond money and power. Rahmat A. Muhammad expresses her hopes for international and domestic peace within her country. Ahmed Farooq Baidoon urges the world to become worthy of its children. Isabel Gomes de Diego’s photos celebrate new and burgeoning life in various forms. Isaac Aju’s short story challenges the Nigerian social taboo about middle-aged women remaining unmarried, celebrating a broader scope of people and lifestyles.
Even as we find some new joys and new lives, we sadly lose others. Ahmed Miqdad laments the destruction of Gaza and its ravages on both land and souls. Emran Emon decries the killing in Gaza and the U.N.’s lack of action. Daniel De Culla lampoons those who lead humanity while willfully ignoring climate change.
Sandro Piedrahita’s tale of conquest, tragedy, and some tiny justice finally served dramatizes the Spanish colonization of the Incas. Z.I. Mahmud explores dystopian elements within Margaret Atwood’s feminist classic The Handmaid’s Tale.
On a more personal level, Anna Keiko’s youthful-sounding poetry expresses tender lovesickness and fear of losing her beloved. Taylor Dibbert’s weary poetic speaker gives up on the dating world. Bill Tope’s short story presents a tragic interpersonal situation with tenderness, causing readers to think about the role of the justice system.
Christopher Bernard’s piece illustrates how humans can defend ourselves against all sorts of danger with calm, mindful preparedness. We hope that this issue will not only charm and entertain, but inspire and strengthen you to face the days ahead.
Examine close reading of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale with critical perspectives and textual references.
Margaret Atwood’s masterpiece “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a phenomenal dystopian speculative fiction of contemporary totalitarianism and authoritarianism “within Western society and within Christian tradition itself”. Old Testamentary militarized hierarchy disempowers women’s emancipation and dismantles womanhood into the closetted fetters of patriarchalism and misogyny as encountered by the tragic handmaids Offred and Ofglen. The worldview of casually held attitudes about women is a real life problem exposition of social commentary critiquing antifeminism and gender treachery, ecological disasters like nuclear radiation and chemical pollution, civil war and political turmoil, widespread sterility/ infertility and sexually transmitted diseases (HIVs and AIDs) contagion. New England Puritanism of Gileadean microcosm is a metafictional epilogue of post futuristic dystopian society purporting to be the premise of international historical association conference 2195. “Loving neighbours while harbouring animosity for the arbitrary adversaries reflect stranding of beleaguered populace within the communion and community. Offred is otherized as a concubine and wanton woman of the preGileadean regime. Offred’s reproductive machinery emblematically symbolizes sacrificial offering as a two legged womb fertility and/or surrogacy despite her malicious victimhood vulnerable to the vicious status quo as adulteress and strumpet. Mooning and Juneing of the coterie damsels and brothel courtesans reflect the objectification of commodified property of male gaze as extrapolated by the novelist. Gileadean feminization refrain and restrain from womanizing creatures of male power fantasies. Sexuality and gender stereotyping apartheid of womanhood is subversively challenged by subalterns and marthas, Rita and Nick, harbouring solidarity with the Mayday Resistance movement. Nick is hired by Serena Joy to cuckold Offred in return of heir to eclipse sexual impotency and emasculative effeminacy of her masterly lord husband, the commandant. However, Nick embodies humanness and philanthropism through espousal of escapade for the entrapped maiden’s absconsion to Canada.
Atwood’s feminist utopian idealism pontificates that masculine system is the major cause of social and political problems and showcases women as not only as the least equals of men but also as the sole arbiters of their reproductive functions. The novel is detrimental to Christian tradition because of being sexually explicit, violently graphic and morally corrupt. Anti Biblical teachings pertaining to sexuality and gender education are preached within the domain of The Handmaid’s Tale. However, the novel is a masterpiece of dystopian speculative fiction that espouses the exploration of “the most insidious and violent manifestations of power in Western history”. Jezebels and handmaids are iconoclastic milestones and cornerstones of enforced sexual captivity sanctioned by the Gileadean regime. Furthermore allegorical satire of the en masse non white African Americans rehabilitation and/or en route of Jewish diasporic exodus community repatriation to New Jerusalem have been depicted by the novelist. This dystopian nightmarish speculative fiction anchors barren wives of the elite class as royalists and depersonalizes the subjectivity of the subaltern other gender as fertility machines in accord with their reproductive agencies. Moreover, segregationist and separatist abortion rights and declining birth rates in Romanian and Canadian territorial context are allegorized. The universalistically spectacular appeal of the novel distinctively intertwines interlacing of feminist survivor characters’ destinies with ideological absolutism of the tyrannical apartheid. Racial persecution and ethnic cleansing cast vulnerable survivalists as prey into the cascade of fanaticism, extremism and fundamentalism.
Regressive and repressive state policies of conservative Gilead disfavours women’s rights movement including sapphic individuals, abortionists, abolitionists, religious sects and banishing Jews, elderly females and non white populace to the territorial outskirts of radioactive fallout colonies. As a feminist activist Margaret Atwood voices for women’s education and property power of attorney as manifested through the caricature of Mayday Resistance. Mayday Resistance is bolstered by radical feminist activist Ofglen to overthrow the republic of Gilead. However, the antifeminist traits of the novel marginalizes and otherizes handmaids as mere breeders of reproductive machinery and /or reproductive agencies. These womenfolk relegates themselves as inferior and subservient to social, religious and cosmic roles, duties, obligations and errands sanctified and decreed by state sponsored right wing fundamentalism, rigid dogmas and misogynistic theosophies. Atwood’s Aunt Lydia is a depiction of church-state sponsored staunchest pacifists passive to the women’s resistance and rebellion; vicious preachers casting as spokesperson for antifeminism and urges handmaids to metamorphose themselves in the crux of de-sexuality, impersonality, disfiguration, disembodiment and dehumanization. In contrast, Nick is a renegade mutineering legacy of handmaids through underground networking channels resulting in rescue operations of entrapped maidens. However, the novel’s mimetic impulse of the commander appears more pathetic than sinister, baffled than manipulative and almost at all times a fool personae, thus condoning antifeminism. The narrator-protagonist of Handmaid’s Tale coping, endurance and survival quest after all, transmits translucent beacon of hope and humility for the oppressed minority amidst chilling and depressive uprooted soulless existence of a misogynous regime. Atwood’s subtle transfiguration to heroic feminist survivor sly subversive and determined daring conniver overthrow coercive dungeons of the pervasive canons of Gilead’s ruthlessly dystopian tyrannical nature. “Dark realm within’, ‘cellar’ and ‘attic hiding place’ connote ubiquitous nightmarish envisionings colonizing powers imposed upon handmaid-slave dynamic identity beyond exemplar premises of pervasive canons of Gilead frontiers. Offred’s solicitous gratification with hiraeth is a phantasmal escapism from absurdity and futility and/or defeatism and paralysis of the obsolete frozen barren wasteland. The mind style narrator-protagonist voice and perception is symptomatic of traumatic events and of excluded experiences that exemplifies discourse of a socially marginalized individual more than a woman’s language. Afterall, Eurydice, the Creation- death goddess whose self-expression and self-affirmation epiphanies emerges as evanescently and enigmatically in the resurrected tomb of the buried earthy womb epitomizes Offred’s repressive state of affairs.
Further Reading, References, Endnotes and Podcasts
Donna J. Haraway’s, 35. Introduction: A Cyborg Manifesto, Science, Technology and Socialist Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century, Routledge New York pp. 149-181
A woman’s place is in the resistance: self, narrative and performative femininity as subversion and weapon in the Handmaid’s Tale by Courtney Landis, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Repository and Digital Archive pp. 1-70
The New York Times Margaret Atwood on ‘What The Handmaid’s Tale Means in the Age of Trump?’ Book Review Essays March 10, 2017
Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale and the Dystopian Tradition’ Amin Malak, Canadian Literature Review, pp. 1-8
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale: Resistance Through Narrating, Hilde Staels, 1995, English Studies, 76:5, pp. 455-467
‘Just a Backlash’: Margaret Atwood, Feminism and The Handmaid’s Tale, Shirley Neuman, pp. 1-12, University of Toronto Quarterly, Volume 75, No. 3, Summer 2006.
Anna Keiko’s Painting in the Map of Contemporary Art
By: Rizal Tanjung
In the realm of contemporary visual art, Anna Keiko may not yet be a household name among the giants of the global art scene, but her work holds a narrative potential and visual expression that should not be underestimated. One of her notable pieces is a 50×60 cm painting that, at first glance, suggests gestural freedom and the power of color. Yet, behind that freedom lies structure, silent narrative, and deep cultural resonance.
The painting presents three compositional clusters—two vertical figures and one group in the lower right—composed of rough brushstrokes, contrasting colors, and strong textures. Dominated by black, red, yellow, and green, these form ambiguous figurative shadows: are they humans, masks, or cultural silhouettes?
This essay aims to unpack the work from various perspectives: the history of painting, relevant art movements, aesthetic theory, symbolic approaches, and the broader global context in which it resides.
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1. Gestural Aesthetics and the Legacy of Abstract Expressionism
If we trace the history, Keiko’s spontaneous, dynamic, and emotionally charged brushstrokes have strong roots in Abstract Expressionism. This movement emerged in post-WWII America, led by figures such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning. They rejected representational forms in favor of gesture and abstraction as a means to express the soul and existential condition.
Anna Keiko, though living in a different era and cultural context, seems to inherit this spirit. Her use of impasto (thick paint application) invites a sensory perception of texture and depth, making the painting seem alive and in motion. In her hands, paint becomes more than a medium—it becomes a “body language” that speaks directly to the viewer’s senses and emotions.
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2. Figurative Ambiguity: Between Representation and Imagination
Unlike pure Abstract Expressionism, which often forgoes representation altogether, Keiko’s work offers shadowy but distinct silhouettes. We see “figures”—perhaps human, divine, or cultural icons—yet without clear detail. This situates her work within the spectrum of Neo-Expressionism, a movement that re-emerged in the 1980s as a critique of minimal and conceptual art.
Neo-Expressionism revived the human form in raw, expressive, and sometimes brutal ways. Keiko reflects this through a subtler, more contemplative approach. She doesn’t simply paint humans; rather, she suggests their presence through shadows and fragmented forms. As if inviting us to see humanity not through physical form, but through its traces and lingering energy.
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3. Color Symbolism and Visual Tension
The color palette Keiko employs is far from arbitrary. Black dominates as background and contour, red evokes emotional intensity, yellow brings light and vitality, while green resonates with nature. These hues are not smoothly blended but rather “clashed,” creating strong visual tension.
In expressionist color theory, each color carries an emotional and symbolic charge. Kandinsky, a pioneer of abstraction, once wrote that color is a “psychic instrument.” In this context, Keiko’s colors are not decorative, but symbolic—conveying an unspoken narrative beyond words.
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4. Eastern Touch: Zen, Emptiness, and the Meaning Within Silence
The name “Keiko” carries a Japanese nuance, and the minimalist tendencies in her composition suggest the influence of Eastern aesthetics. Traditional Chinese and Japanese ink painting, such as sumi-e, emphasizes the importance of emptiness, space, and brush movement as core aesthetic elements.
In Zen philosophy, perfection is found within imperfection. Keiko’s painting, with its rough, unfinished forms that seem to “pause mid-thought,” invites contemplation. It speaks through silence—eschewing literal narrative in favor of a personal, introspective experience. In this way, Keiko unites the duality of East and West: the expressive freedom of the West with the meditative depth of Zen visual tradition.
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5. Art as a Cross-Cultural Space
In an increasingly fluid global art landscape, works like Anna Keiko’s serve as vital cultural bridges. Her work does not align itself with a single tradition—not strictly Western, nor purely Eastern. Instead, it embodies the global artist of today—working across geographic, historical, and artistic boundaries.
Her painting demonstrates that art need not choose between abstraction and figuration, between the personal and the universal, or between emotion and concept. All can coexist within the same canvas, just as our world moves in ever-growing complexity.
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6. Positioning the Work within the Contemporary Art Map
In the midst of conceptual, digital, and interactive installation art, gestural painting like Keiko’s remains relevant. Arguably, it is becoming even more vital as a form of resistance to the sterile nature of digitization. The human touch, the brush’s trace, and visual irregularity become the “honesty” sought in an era of visual simulation.
Keiko’s painting stands as proof that “painting” is far from obsolete. It is not merely a traditional medium, but a transformative one—capable of fostering contemplation, self-expression, and cross-cultural reflection.
What may appear to be a modest-sized painting holds layers of thought and complex visual intensity. It stands as evidence that abstract art is not an escape from reality, but rather a quest for meaning beyond surface representation.
Within a single canvas, Anna Keiko invites us to explore art history, dive into inner depth, reflect on color symbolism, and ultimately—meet ourselves. She is not merely an artist who paints forms, but one who transforms visual experience into spiritual and cultural resonance.
