It's a great day today for the
fans of literature and certainly a moment to rejoice its legacy for someone who
has varied interests for his reading portfolio, from non-fiction to fiction,
from strategic world affairs to spiritual affairs, from electoral analyses to
poetry, from humanity to beyond humankind.
September 30 marks the birth
anniversaries of three literary Greats from different circumstances and
'genres' of life that made what they are known as. One is from the 13th
Century. Two are from the 20th Century. And one of them is still alive.
Rumi or Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad
Rumi, born in a family of eminent jurists, the 13th Century Persian poet’s
popularity has cultivated a worldwide following and his work is being
translated in more and more languages in the contemporary times. Wikipedia, quoting
different sources writes that "he has been described as the most popular
poet in America and the best selling poet in the US", in a land far away
from his birthplace in present day Tajikistan or Afghanistan or from his final
resting place in present day Turkey. Much of the classical Iranian and Afghan
music is said to be influenced by the Sufi Mystic's poetry.
September 30, 2017 - December 17, 1273
Truman Capote: I was aware of Truman Capote and had a brief outline
of his work, but never intended to or thought of giving more attention, until
Philip Seymour Hoffman's 'Capote' happened in 2005. For me, it took the genius
in Hoffman to introduce me to the literary genius of Capote. Hoffman played
Capote in the biographical drama based on ‘In Cold Blood’, a non-fiction crime
novel as Capote described it, a work that made Capote the most famous author of
his time in America. His troubled childhood proved out to be the formative
period of his literary career.
September 30, 1924 - August 25, 1984
Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night’ came to me as a soul-stirring experience.
Before it, I was largely focused on documentaries, visual media, news reports
and studies on Holocaust to know more about the largest pogrom of modern human
history, to feel its pain, to realize its message. But the experience after
‘Night’ transcended all and made the Holocaust memoirs the major part of my
Holocaust reading, of the past, as well as the ongoing ones. The sudden change,
from the peaceful childhood days to a life of utter debasement, where there were
no children, no adults, no males, or no females, just living human corpses,
waiting to be gassed and burned, in a matter of a few weeks, brings tears that
don’t stop. The 1986 Peace Nobel Laureate is still with us. His life and work
remind how debased the humankind can become and how resilient the humanity can
come out to be.
September 30, 1928
Photographs sourced from the Internet
It is indeed a day to look back
on works of these literary Greats to express gratitude for staying with us, for
enlightening us, for empowering us, for giving us peace, for giving us joy, for
giving us the precious moments to reflect on.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com
