Wikipedia:
"As per Mahabharata (MBh 1.3), on one rainy night Aruni's preceptor Dhaumya Muni asked him to supervise water flowing through a certain field. Aruni went there and found that water had breached the field and was moving away from its designated path. Aruni tried to stop water by all means but was unsuccessful. Left with no other way, Aruni lay down on the breach and prevented the water flow using his body. Due to this Aruni did not return to the hermitage in the night. Later in the morning, Dhaumya Muni came to the spot in search of Aruni with other disciples. Upon seeing the dedication and sincerity of Aruni, Dhaumya was very pleased upon Aruni and gave him the title Uddalaka. Later Aruni became very famous under the name Uddalaka Aruni..."
Ezra Pound:
"Make it new".
Gore Vidal's advice to a young writer in the late 1960s:
“Never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television.”
In 1984 I did not know the late Mr. Vidal's wisdom but I wanted to write for 'Abhiruchi' (अभिरुचि) magazine.
D G Godse's cover of Abhiruchi Diwali 1946
Abhiruchi of course has been dead now for a while. But not too long before it died, it burned brightly for me.
It published a couple of my own Marathi short stories.
My joy was limitless. It still gives me goosebumps after almost thirty years.
I attempted to write something for the first time after completing my education in July 1983 and there I was: Getting published in one of the most avant-garde magazines in Marathi. [Who didn't write for Abhiruchi? It was as 'brow' as Satyakatha (सत्यकथा)]
I am sharing here the first story that was published in the joint issue of March-April 1984. (Note - the magazine was already on the 'joints'.)
My only regret now- there are no pictures in it.
I had seen the desperate pursuit of USA by the students of IIT, Madras. Those days to get yourself a good school for M.S, you not just needed a good GRE score (that most of them got easily anyway) but also a recommendation of an IIT teacher.
In the story, I imagine that Aruni too is angling for a recommendation by his teacher Dhaumya-muni to go abroad.
Artist: Unknown to me
(If you read Marathi and wish to read the following pages, I advise you to open each of them in your browser's new tab and then use magnification tool. Scanning has been done by my son on a brand new high quality scanner.)
This is the not the end of the story!
My story was attacked by a reader- Mr. G R Phatak of Mumbai. Following is his letter published in the issue of January-February 1985.
So I was not just published but was also noticed and not just noticed but was considered worthy of a scathing attack!
What more a young writer wants...I had received my recommendation!
"As per Mahabharata (MBh 1.3), on one rainy night Aruni's preceptor Dhaumya Muni asked him to supervise water flowing through a certain field. Aruni went there and found that water had breached the field and was moving away from its designated path. Aruni tried to stop water by all means but was unsuccessful. Left with no other way, Aruni lay down on the breach and prevented the water flow using his body. Due to this Aruni did not return to the hermitage in the night. Later in the morning, Dhaumya Muni came to the spot in search of Aruni with other disciples. Upon seeing the dedication and sincerity of Aruni, Dhaumya was very pleased upon Aruni and gave him the title Uddalaka. Later Aruni became very famous under the name Uddalaka Aruni..."
Ezra Pound:
"Make it new".
Gore Vidal's advice to a young writer in the late 1960s:
“Never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television.”
In 1984 I did not know the late Mr. Vidal's wisdom but I wanted to write for 'Abhiruchi' (अभिरुचि) magazine.
Abhiruchi of course has been dead now for a while. But not too long before it died, it burned brightly for me.
It published a couple of my own Marathi short stories.
My joy was limitless. It still gives me goosebumps after almost thirty years.
I attempted to write something for the first time after completing my education in July 1983 and there I was: Getting published in one of the most avant-garde magazines in Marathi. [Who didn't write for Abhiruchi? It was as 'brow' as Satyakatha (सत्यकथा)]
I am sharing here the first story that was published in the joint issue of March-April 1984. (Note - the magazine was already on the 'joints'.)
My only regret now- there are no pictures in it.
I had seen the desperate pursuit of USA by the students of IIT, Madras. Those days to get yourself a good school for M.S, you not just needed a good GRE score (that most of them got easily anyway) but also a recommendation of an IIT teacher.
In the story, I imagine that Aruni too is angling for a recommendation by his teacher Dhaumya-muni to go abroad.
Artist: Unknown to me
(If you read Marathi and wish to read the following pages, I advise you to open each of them in your browser's new tab and then use magnification tool. Scanning has been done by my son on a brand new high quality scanner.)
This is the not the end of the story!
My story was attacked by a reader- Mr. G R Phatak of Mumbai. Following is his letter published in the issue of January-February 1985.
So I was not just published but was also noticed and not just noticed but was considered worthy of a scathing attack!
What more a young writer wants...I had received my recommendation!
Aniruddha,
ReplyDeleteNice to see this post. But, I couldn't read the story. I magnified the image and tried to read. Though some words make sense, some have become illegible. I could read Mr. Phatak's letter as it is brief, so doesn't need much staring at the illegible text and screen, but otherwise it gets difficult for the three pages of the story. Sorry. I shall see if there is some other way of making the text legible for me.
--
From what you mention about the desperate pursuit of USA, good GRE scores and a teacher's recommendation, I thought of Indian films' desperate pursuit for Oscar awards. All seem to be the travellers of the same boat.
Best.
Ek Regh,
ReplyDeleteOn my browser and monitor, I can read it with some magnification.
best
प्रिय अनिरुद्ध यांस,
ReplyDeleteतुम्ही तरुणपणी लिहिलेली कथा आवडली परंतु त्यावरील टीका वाचून मौज वाटली.
मंगेश नाबर
Though second page of story was not clear rest pages were readable.It was funny story.It was interesting to call 5 IIT,S as india,s top five "Ashrama" and now today after the increase in number of IIT,S your number in story would have changed if you had written it today.
ReplyDeletePhatak was angry because you used old story for new contemporary issue/concept instead of writing absolutely new story.
I wonder with this criteria Almost all the great dramas of "Girish Karnad " would be " trash " because he always uses either mythological or historical stories or sources to tackle contemporary issues (as you did in this story)
Thank you Mangesh and Deepak.
ReplyDeleteYes, I enjoy reading Mr. Phatak's letter even today.
Deepak- You are right...as my blog quotes in its static part Mark Twain: tell me a single idea that is really new and not used earlier.
best,