Rome Was Built In a Day, Most of Ajanta In Sixteen Years

William Dalrymple, October 23 2014, The New York Review of Books:

"...It is the second phase of activity in the caves under the Hindu Vatakata Emperor Harisena (circa 475–500 AD), ruler of the Deccan, that most interests Walter Spink. It was during this fifth-century period of construction—a full six hundred years after the first caves were carved—that twenty-six of the thirty-one caves, and all the most elaborate ones, were dug. Rejecting the conventional line that these caves were the work of many generations of laborers burrowing away into the hillside, century after century, Spink believes that with the exception of the five early caves, the rest were constructed in a mere sixteen years between 462 and 477 by Harisena, whom he describes as one of India’s greatest rulers...."

Artist: Bruce Eric Kaplan, The New Yorker, April 2006

Time Did NOT Run Out.....

 Today I turned 60...luckily, because I created this post much earlier and I have survived!

Then, I had no clue that covid-19 was coming for us like tsunami.

So , today, I consider myself plain lucky and blessed by my mother to have still been able to stand in the higher portion of the clock.

































Artist: Tom Toro, The New Yorker, February 2016

शिवाजीमहाराज आणि शेजवलकर...Tryambak Shankar Shejwalkar@125

Today May 25 2020 is 125th birth anniversary of  Tryambak Shankar Shejwalkar (1895- 1963)

दुर्गा भागवत: 
"... शेजवलकर नावाचा पडेल, रडेल नि सडेल माणूस गेला आहे; पण शेजवलकर या नावाचा दुसरा एक गुणी संपादक नि शिवचरित्राचा साक्षेपी टिपणकार मात्र शिल्लक आहे- तो तसा राहीलही!"
(पृष्ठ १७८, 'आठवले तसे', १९९१- २०१४)

 (पृष्ठ एकतीस, "त्र्यंबक शंकर शेजवलकर: निवडक लेखसंग्रह",  संग्राहक: ह वि. मोटे ,  परिचय : गं दे खानोलकर, १९७७)

कृतज्ञता : शेजवलकर यांच्या साहित्याचे कॉपीराईट होल्डर्स

टीप :

व्रजन्ति ते मूढधियः पराभवं भवन्ति मायाविषु ये न मायिनः ।
प्रविश्य हि घ्नन्ति शठास्तथाविधानसंवृताङ्गान्निशिता इवेषवः ।। १.३० ।।

अर्थ: वे मूर्ख बुद्धि के लोग पराजित होते हैं जो (अपने) मायावी (शत्रु) लोगों के साथ मायावी नहीं बनते, क्योंकि दुष्ट लोग उस प्रकार के सीधे-सादे निष्कपट लोगो में, उघाड़े हुए अंगों में तीक्ष्ण बाणों की भांति प्रवेश करके उनका विनाश कर देते हैं ।

( भारवि कृत किरातार्जुनीय महाकाव्य )

रेम्ब्रँट आणि जीए....The Anatomy Lesson During Pandemic

"...Rembrandt चे एक 'Lesson In Anatomy ' नावाचे चित्र आहे. त्यातील levels , masses and colours (विशेषतः brush strokes तर इतके विलक्षण जिवंत आहेत, की प्रत्येक stroke म्हणजेच एक चित्र वाटते. ) फार लक्षणीय आहेत; पण त्या anatomy lesson विषयी काही सोयरसुतक वाटत नाही. लेखनाकडे आणि चित्रकले पाहण्याचा हा दृष्टिकोन माझ्या बाबतीत इतका हट्टी आणि असाध्य झाला आहे, की दुसराही एक दृष्टिकोन असू शकतो , या गोष्टीचा मला विसरच पडतो... "

(तारीख २८ जुलै १९७८, पृष्ठ ४१-४२, ' जी. ए.ची निवडक पत्रे : खंड १", १९९५

पहिली गोष्ट चित्राचे नाव "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" असे आहे. चित्र १६३२ सालचे आहे.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/…/The_Anatomy_Lesson_of_Dr._Nicola…)

In the work, Dr. Nicolaes Tulp is pictured explaining the musculature of the arm (The muscular system of an organism) to medical professionals.

म्हणजे हे डॉक्टर लोकांचे पेंटिंग आहे. २०२० सालच्या मे महिन्यात ह्या पेक्षा चांगले चित्र कोणते असू शकते?

दुसरी गोष्ट म्हणजे जीएंची चित्रकलेवरची कमांड पहा: brush strokes , प्रत्येक ब्रश स्ट्रोक म्हणजे एक स्वतंत्र पैंटिंग वगैरे... शिवाय levels , masses and colours याचा चित्रकलेच्या दृष्टीने अभ्यास...
रेम्ब्रांट  कधी जीएंना भेटले असते तर कितीवेळ दोघे बोलत राहिली असती कोणास ठाऊक आणि दोघांचा पत्रव्यवहार असता, तर एक खंड त्याचाच झाला असता.

.....म्हणून जीए हे मराठीला मिळालेले एक अद्वितीय असे टॅलेंट होते.....

कलाकार:  रेम्ब्रँट

ह्या चित्राचे महत्व रेम्ब्रँट यांच्या आयुष्यात काय होते ते वाचा:

"... The Anatomy Lesson was the picture that gave Rembrandt his opportunity, and proclaimed his preeminence among the painters in Amsterdam. It was the custom in those days for corporations, civic bodies, and associations of various kinds, to commemorate their period of office by commissioning portrait groups which should hand down their worthy faces to posterity. The desire of the less prominent members of the associations thus painted was that each head should be a likeness, plainly recognisable, - that one burgher should not be treated with more importance than another. This desire for present and posthumous commemoration extended to medical circles. Portraits and portrait groups of famous physicians and surgeons were painted and hung in the theatres where they lectured or operated. Dr. Tulp, an eminent surgeon of the day, commissioned Rembrandt to represent him performing an operation, proposing to present the picture to the Surgeons’ Guild in memory of his professorship. The grave, realistic picture called The Anatomy Lesson, now hanging at the Hague Museum, was the result. The corpse lies upon the dissecting table; before it stands Dr. Tulp, wearing a broad-brimmed hat; around him are grouped seven elderly students. Some are absorbed by the operation, others gaze thoughtfully at the professor, or at the spectator. Dr. Tulp indicates with his forceps one of the tendons of the subject’s left arm, and appears to be addressing the students, or practitioners, for these seven bearded men have long passed the age of studentship. This picture made Rembrandt’s reputation. He was but twenty-six; the world seemed to be at his feet; in the two following years he painted forty portraits...."

('Rembrandt' by Mortimer Menpes, १९०५)

Mac Conner's Art

Artist: Mac Conner  (1913- 2019)

D. B. Dowd, 2015:

“...Florence and Richard Lockridge’s noir tale “There’s Death for Remembrance” typifies the assignments Mac received from This Week. This two-part story centers on the murder of Fern Hartley, shown here in mid-air, falling down a flight of stairs to her death. Hartley had been attending a dinner party and reunion of high school friends when her incessant reminiscing provoked someone to silence her. The following week Conner’s illustration shows dinner guests looking down at Fern’s lifeless body.

This Week Magazine was a syndicated free newspaper supplement inserted into local Sunday newspapers. Published from 1935-1969, at This Week’s height it appeared in 42 papers nationwide. As many as 13 million people may have seen this image in print, dwarfing the audience for Conner’s magazine work. It’s appropriate that his biggest audience would see such a representative work–featuring the trademark Conner inventive point-of-view.”

illustration for short story "Let’s Take A Trip Up the Nile", 1950 for  "This Week"

डोळे हे जुलमि गडे, रोखुनि मज एकदातरी पहा....Making an Eye Contact

भा रा तांबे, १८९१:

"डोळे हे जुलमि गडे

रोखुनि मज पाहुं नका !

जादुगिरी त्यांत पुरी

येथ उभे राहुं नका...."

बा सी मर्ढेकर, १९५९:
"डोळे हे फिल्मि  गडे, खोकुनि मज पाहुं नका !
काढूं मी दळणा कशि , निवडुं सख्या , आणि मका  !"
 

“When I make eye contact for the first time, I want it to be with the right person.”  

Artist: Drew Dernavich,The New Yorker, November 2015

The Majority of Modern books are Merely Wavering Reflections of the Present...कारण काफ्कांनी पण तेच सांगितल

मला मराठीतील नवीन पुस्तके वाचावीशी वाटत नाहीत.

एकतर मी त्यांच्या दर्जाबद्दल कायमच साशंक राहिलो  आहे आणि जास्त महत्वाचे म्हणजे जुनी पुस्तके वाचून अजून संपलीच नाहीयत.

जी. ए. कुलकर्णी लिहतात:
"...आता शिवलीलामृतांचच उदाहरण घे. त्या कथा मी फार आवडीनं वाचे. काही वेळा तर पुढं वाचवू नये असा माझा गळा भरून येत असे. आणि ते शब्द तरी किती माहेर घरगुतीपणान येतात, माहीत आहे? बोटांतून रांगोळी झरझर पडत जावी, अगर गाईला पान्हा फुटावा तसे कथांना शब्द येत जातात..."
(पृष्ठ २१५, 'घर', 'पिंगळावेळ', १९७७)

आता शिवलीलामृत वाचल्याशिवाय हे काय समजणार मला?

पहा फ्रान्झ काफ्का काय म्हणतात या विषयाबद्दल:

“...I surprised Franz Kafka in his office studying a catalogue of the Reclam-Bücherei.

‘I am getting drunk on book tides,’ said Kafka. ‘Books are a narcotic.’

I opened my brief-case and showed him the contents.

‘I am a hashish addict, Herr Doktor.’

Kafka was amazed.

‘Nothing but new books!’

I emptied the brief-case on to his writing-desk. Kafka took one book after the other, turned the pages, read a passage here and there, and returned me the book.

‘And you are going to read all that?’

I nodded.

Kafka pursed his lips.

‘You spend too much time on ephemeras. The majority of modern books are merely wavering reflections of the present. They disappear very quickly. You should read more old books. The classics. Goethe. What is old reveals its deepest value – lastingness. What is merely new is the most transitory of all things. It is beautiful today, and tomorrow merely ludicrous. That is the way of literature.’...”

(‘Conversations with Kafka’ by Gustav Janouch)

 

मागे मला एका वाचकाने काफ्का यांच्या पुस्तकाच्या विश्वसार्हतेबद्दल शंका व्यक्त केली होती. त्यांच्या सारख्या लोकांसाठी खालील मजकूर उपयोगी ठरू शकतो. 

 

p.s.

FRANCINE PROSE,   ‘Introduction’, ‘CONVERSATIONS WITH KAFKA’, 2012:

“…At some point during the time since I first read Janouch, I heard that a question had been raised about whether Kafka had really said everything Janouch claims. Readers might well wonder, especially when we notice that several of the memoir’s walk-on characters (a violin maker, a friend of Janouch’s) sound strikingly like Kafka. And how did Janouch memorize verbatim these long flights of improvisational fancy that we ourselves have to read many times before we can get them straight? Later I heard that the person most eager to discredit Janouch (a cache of letters exists in a file at New Directions) might have had some extra-literary, personal, or professional interest in the project.

In the interval between my first reading and this one, I sometimes wondered if, aware of a challenge to its authenticity, I would like the book as much as I had before. I am pleased to report that the questions raised about the book made little difference, or none at all. Perhaps the sharpness of my judgment has been blunted by the debates and doubt that have come to surround the contemporary memoir. Or perhaps I experienced a new admiration for the skill with which Janouch may have partly described and partly invented a semi-historical, semi-fictional character known as Kafka.

Rereading Janouch, I thought: If Kafka didn’t say all these things, he said some of them and should have said the rest. Perhaps he might have admired Janouch’s exploration of the line between appropriation, ventriloquism, and spirit possession: channeling, we might call it. I want to believe that Kafka said what Janouch wrote down, just as I want more than ever to pretend that I am walking in Janouch’s place, pestering Franz Kafka with sophomoric questions and thirstily imbibing the gnomic, goofy poetry of the master’s pontifications... ”