User talk:Murthy BS

Dear Literary Lovers:

Let me make the world privy to my six affairs wrapped up under the covers of the SelfImprint imprints found only in the bookstores in South Indian cities.

Fiction:

Benign Flame: saga of love (in three parts of 357 pages) Price: Rs. 150

Crossing the Mirage (in 23 chapters of 244 pages)Price: Rs. 150

Jewel-less Crown: saga of life (as Book One ‘Artha And Kama’ of 17 chapters and Book Two ‘Dharma and Moksha’ in 12 chapters, in all 244 pages) Price: Rs. 150

Non-fiction:

Puppets of Faith – theory of communal strife (in 27 chapters of 252 pages)Price: Rs.165

Bhagavad-Gita: treatise of self-help (translation in verse in contemporary idiom with codification of interpolations of Vyas’s Sanskrit classic of 700 slokas forming part of Maha Bharatha, 205 pages) Price: Rs. 145

Sundara Kanda: Hanuman’s Odyssey (translation in 2,951 verses from Valmiki’s Ramayana, 290 pages) Price: Rs 150

I believe that none would have the heart to suggest that it might be vanity publishing after all. Any way, one self-published book would have addressed the vanity factor, if any. Moreover, I would not have written six before I self-published one.

How are my books apart?

Ay you are aware, as against the ‘sky is the limit’ western market for fiction, there are no more than a thousand or so takers in India for the Indian novel in English.

Understandably, it is this poverty of our market that prompts the aspiring Indian writers to look at the Western markets for their literary salvation. However, the western publishers and their Indian outposts are averse to publish any fiction exploring the human condition of the natives for want of Western interest in them. All this predictably led to the phenomenon of the made to order Indian English novel – if it is not the case of Western characters in the Indian setting, then it must be the Indian diaspora on the Western stage. One only has to compare this compulsion with the continental fiction of the 19th century, conceived for the native readers with no eye on the English readers in translations. Thus, fiction to impact a reader should be the tale of a people in a given time and not a hotchpotch of characters from the East and the West. My fictional works sans western props are apart from what was written in Indian English for some decades now.

What are they about?

All my three novels embellished with compelling characters in intriguing plots explore the human condition in a way not hitherto explored in the annals of literature.

In ‘Benign Flame – saga of love’, adultery is uniquely dealt with in these words of the paramour -

'Roopa, you know how I love you,' he said, looking into her eyes, 'I'll do everything to make you happy. All said and done, our love is only a part of your life. Should you remain perturbed in your married life, in spite of our love life, you would still be unhappy. Love your husband and make him happy so that you could be happier yourself. Only your all round happiness could make me feel gratified about our love.'

What was Roopa’s considered response?

'I'm really proud of you, darling,' she said hugging him tightly as she released her lips, 'I'll bring it about if only to prove the power of our love. I thought about what you've said and realized that it makes sense. As you've pictured the sentimental aspects so clearly, I could see the practical utility of it all. After all, adultery could be a double jeopardy for women!' she continued thoughtfully, 'well liaisons won't address the marital irritants that push women into the alien arms. To make it worse for them, affairs induce a feeling of guilt, pricking their conscience. Thus, while still having to endure that which made them adulterous, women in liaison find themselves carrying the cross of infidelity as well. Besides, the fear of exposure in time would impart dullness to their sense of excitement, robbing them the thrills on the frills. When in the end, the inevitable desertion is on hand, won't women wonder about the futility of it all? Well, it looks like your idea could be a via media, and I feel enslaved by your intellectual love.'

In ‘Crossing the Mirage’ the dynamics of unrequited love acquire a new dimension thus-

“Then came the envelope on the New Year's Eve. As I opened it with a premonition, I found a greeting card staring at my face. In all nervousness I looked for an accompanying letter, and to my shock I found none. Then I could see the writing on the wall scripted by her silence. Thus, I knew that I was at the losing end. What a crass way for her to sign-off with someone who loved her more than himself?

After all, didn’t I deserve a letter at least, even if she wanted to desert? Is it the same woman who I thought was a gem? I felt as though I'd lost my capacity to think for a while. Instead, for the first time in my adult life, I cried that night in self-pity.

At length, as I reviewed my tragedy as it evolved, the fact that she had manipulated my weakness to suit the needs of her life became apparent. Then, suddenly, I could see a parallel in my life when I was at the giving end. Oh how shocked I was at that as I recalled how I happened to treat a neighbour girl in like fashion. Thanks to my own sense of hurt, the magnitude of misery I would've caused her sank into my consciousness. And that led to a sinking feeling in me. Ashamed of myself, in the end, I started crying for her and stopped worrying for myself.”

In ‘Jewel-less Crown – saga of life’ spirituality of materialism is expostulated thus:

'You know the role money played in the downfall of our family,' he began as they went back into their room, 'while I served the sentence, I thought long and hard about it. In time, I realized that it's the character of money to corrupt the ardent, tease the vacillating and curse the disinterested. That way there seems to be no escape for man from money. You're damned if you have it and equally damned for the lack of it.'

'Money is best in its moderation, isn't it?' she said as though to convert him to her point of view.

'Make money the measure, and you are in for trouble, for that would keep you in its grip forever,' he said taking her into his arms, 'what is extravagant today may be moderate tomorrow and what is moderate today may be meager by the morrow.'

'How to go about it then?' she seemed puzzled.

'One should try to demystify money to see what really it is worth. Well the accumulated millions of a miser add up to zero, likewise, the crores with a spendthrift will not add up to much. Thus, money has no value of its own, in spite of the awe in which man holds it. As for the power of wealth, it's only in the mind, of the haves and the have-nots alike.'

Novelty in non-fiction:

‘Puppets of Faith- theory of communal strife’

Apart from its novel way of dealing with the subject, it may be noted that my book is perhaps the first by a Hindu that seeks to understand and analyze the import and impact of the Semitic faiths on the stage of human strife. Being an outsider to thee three religious doctrines, in ‘Puppets of Faith’, one can expect to have an outsider’s analysis of the insides of not only Islam but also Judaism and the Christianity.

"This book seeks to outline the background of the Musalman-kafir animosity on one hand and the Hindu – Muslim communal divide on the other, both products of one or more of the scriptural notions, religious dogma, medieval history and modern politics, or all put together. As one cannot understand man unless he understands his religion, so the religious ethos not only of Hinduism and Islam but also of the Christianity, the Judaism and the Buddhism are sketched here for the reader to understand how scriptures by themselves could contribute to social discord. Also since man carries the historical deadwood, in spite of himself, the history that connects and disconnects the Semitic religions and which divides the Hindu Muslim emotions is recalled to appreciate the background to the communal strife.

After all, there is more to religion than meets the eye, and that is the overriding faith and feeling of the believer. Besides, as the Islamic creed is more so a product of Muhammad’s persona than the other Semitic faiths were, the influence of his character in shaping the ethos of the Musalman has been analyzed. Won’t the Muslims themselves concede that their endeavour would be to follow the straight path of Islam as earnestly as they could, as others have, any way, strayed onto the satanic path? It is this mind-set that makes Muslims apart in the religious sense. How could this possibly govern the Muslim psyche is theorized in this book by fusing the information gathered from Roland E Miller’s "Muslim Friends – Their Faith and Feeling" with the psychological aspects of Parent, Child and Adult, propositioned in "I’m Ok – You’re Ok", the famous work of Thomas A. Harris.”

What did the informed say?

Blurb of “Benign Flame - saga of love”:

As Roopa’s ambition of becoming a doctor turns into a pipedream by her father’s refusal, she opts to marry out of turn to save her sister’s morganatic love, however, with a lurking hope that her husband might help her cause. When Sathyam, whom she married, was averse to her idea, she feels let-down and turns apathetic towards him. However, when she goes to attend her friend Sandhya’s marriage, she loses her heart to Raja Rao, the groom. Benign Flame is but the unfolding saga of Roopa’s life and times.

The author has convinced the readers that love is something far beyond marriage tie and fulfillment of love can be attained without marriage bondage. The author has achieved a minor revolution without any paraphernalia of revolution in the third part of the novel – The Quest.

The plot is quite effective, and it’s a refreshing surprise to discover that the story will not trace a fall into disaster for Roopa, given that many writers might have habitually followed that course with a wife who strays into extramarital affairs - Spencer Critchley, Literary Critic, USA

The author makes free use of – not interior monologue as such, but – interior dialogue of the character with the self, almost resembling the dramatic monologue of Browning. Roopa, Sandhya, Raja Rao and Prasad to a considerable extent and Tara and Sathyam to a limited degree indulge in rationalization, trying to analyse their impulses and drives. – The Journal of Indian Writing in English. About Crossing the Mirage: One could say that it is a well-constructed novel, rounded, and doling out poetic justice in large quantities. Using a kind of interior monologue for most of the narrative, the writer attempts to analyse and project the inferiority complex of the protagonist, resulting from his inherited ‘unhandsomeness’; and this is the ‘mirage’ he has to cross, with the help of his wife. Crass materialism of Vasu, gullibility of Nitya, primness of Prema and the prejudice of Satya, are the personal mirages these characters are called upon to cross. They all, except Vasu, succeed at the end – Triveni, India’s Literary and Cultural Quarterly. Jewel-less Crown – saga of life: In Gautam’s rise and fall resulting in his enlightenment the dramatic twists and turns keep the interest of the readers. Gautam encourages kama to attain artha which in turn makes him to discern dharma leading him towards moksha. The novelist strikes a balance between the carnal and the spiritual in the novel with ingenuity - Triveni, India’s Literary and Cultural Quarterly. About “Bhagavad-Gita – treatise of self-help”

A monumental work, and as I went through the pages I felt I was swimming in nectar – Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, poet and scholar, Hyderabad.

About “Sundara Kanda-Hanuman’s Odyssey”

It is entitled to the regard of all the informed readers. I see it will be a grand success in the world of readers - Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, poet and scholar, Hyderabad.

BS Murthy places easy readability as the prime criterion. The titles tickle the enquiring mind as appropriate signposts: womanizer at work, carrot and stick, itching to fight, odyssey in a nutshell …Dr. Prema Nandakumar, scholar and critic, Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, India.

The rendering makes it a book of nursery rhymes - Dr. Bhargavi Rao, short story writer, translator and literary critic, Hyderabad”

Yours Literally,

BS Murthy