Zahira Rahman, writer and academic, remembers Hilary Mantel, the legendary novelist who chronicled Tudor history.Hilary Mantel, the much-celebrated author of Wolf Hall, died at the age of 70. She passed away “suddenly and peacefully”, said a report in The Guardian. When I read this piece of news, I was reminded of the lines from her second Booker-winning novel Bring up the Bodies : “Death is your prince, you are not his patron; when you think he is engaged elsewhere, he will batter down your door, walk in and wipe his boots on you.” A brilliant chronicler of Tudor history, Hilar Mantel, who incisively and intimately sketched kings and queens in her famous trilogy _ Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and the more recent The Mirror and the Light _ seems to have chosen, as it were, the hour of her departure to almost coincide with the ascension of another monarch to the throne of England? So that she could avoid another dig at the powers that be. Like the one in these lines written by her: “the way we maltreat royal persons, making them one superhuman, and yet less than human”.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/mantell_768x557_26c20d97b2.jpg" alt="mantell-768x557.jpg">She was wary of drawing parallels between the royals of the present and those of the past. “I think simply because I prize the long view so much. And that’s why I won’t make the parallels. I think that if you do, it turns real people into these kind of fantasy figures and unfortunately, they’re not. They’re real, present and dangerous.” She is not in awe of the monarchy though she twice received recognition from the British Empire for her literary achievements. She is Dame Hilary Mantel. She made light of the recognition in her interviews talking about it as a bit of recognition for making an impact on culture. She said: “There’s no British Empire and it has no practical meaning.” She is fascinated by the machinations of Power and, for her, writing is all about exploring the human puzzle, not to solve it as in a mystery thriller. Her subtle questioning of the process of life and the complexity of its players is deeply political. She considers the act of writing an inherently dramatic activity, and not merely cerebral: “It uses up the whole of you.” She was described by her longtime agent as other-worldly who saw and felt things that we ordinary mortals missed. She talked of her novels as different from orthodox accounts of history and said “not because I know better but because I think differently.” She said her approach was similar to that of the theatre: “I am entering into a dramatic process with the characters rather than sitting in judgement on them.” She could be scrupulously honest and was known to be an intrepid researcher. Someone whose engagement with pain (from endometriosis which was left undiagnosed for years ) had helped in some sort of disappearing act -she studied law and worked as a social work assistant in a geriatric hospital- that saw her emerge triumphant after, with her astounding literary output . She says it was her chronic illness that made her a writer…” Because you have only a little bit of energy left and you have to ration it. ”<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/hilari_768x611_adbb5913fc.jpg" alt="hilari-768x611.jpg">In one of her interviews, she spoke of an unhappy childhood that left her with traumatic memories of a strange household where her mother, father and her mother’s lover were living together and she went into a kind of hibernation to avoid being questioned constantly by the villagers. Her protagonist Thomas Cromwell, of whom she presented a starkly human picture, does not speak much too; it’s mostly the workings of his mind that the readers of the trilogy have access to. Far from a much-maligned historical figure, he emerges as a sensitive genius who lends his perceptive mind to the disturbed Henry VIII . Her beguiling narrative of Cromwell’s life is an engrossing tale of power. She said in an interview that Cromwell interested her because his whole project seemed unlikely. She talked of him as the man she met who wasn’t there: “You are concerned with the inner workings of someone who by definition is turned to the outside world and there is a limit to how much Cromwell knows himself.” Cromwell was a man with a vision, with grand plans that he led to fruition but his journey was so precarious that he was in terrible peril at each step. And “everything is in equipoise and one breath could destroy him.” The consequence of a mistake was calamitous, and you paid with your life. “I am, as I think a lot of authors are, concerned about the speed at which we are consuming history now, the way that the past, the very recent past, is being made into a version and real-life people walking around have to live with their representatives and so on”<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The post-colonial nationalist in us has always been taught to hate the British and their monarchs and yet England and its history and landscape is always some returning memory for the postcolonial reader: Uncannily familiar. Mantel’s record of the stories that have been displaced in space and time fascinate us forever because she plays on our need for, the struggle for, our “little meed for Power.”<hr><h1 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:30px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.2;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“മരണം നിങ്ങളുടെ രാജകുമാരനാണ്, നിങ്ങൾ അവന്റെ രക്ഷാധികാരി അല്ല”</h1><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">ഈ ലേഖനം മലയാളത്തിൽ വായിക്കുവാൻ <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/remembering-celebrated-author-hilary-mantel-the-legendary-novelist-who-chronicled-tudor-history-ml/">ഇവിടെ ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക</a>.

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Hilary Mantel, the much-celebrated author of Wolf Hall, died at the age of 70. She passed away “suddenly and peacefully”, said a report in The Guardian. 

“Death is your prince, you are not his patron.”

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Acclaimed novelist and poet T.P Rajeevan passed away last night at the age of 63. He was one of the most prominent voices in the “ new age “ literature from Kerala . Known for his ability to write equally well in both Malayalam and English, Rajeevan was also outspoken and bold on political and social issues . In 2014, he was awarded the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel ‘KTN Kottoor: Ezhuthum Jeevithavum’. The AIDEM looks back at his legacy, outlook and courage as an artist through this conversation between our Managing Editor Venkitesh Ramakrishnan and acclaimed English writer Anita Nair. The conversation is anchored by Nirmal Madhukumar.<hr><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:center;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Related Story: <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/t-p-rajeevan-a-passion-that-lives-on/">T. P. Rajeevan: A Passion that Lives On</a><hr><h4 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.2;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Subscribe to our channels on<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(247, 168, 16);display:block;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a>&amp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);display:block;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a></h4>

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Acclaimed novelist and poet T.P Rajeevan passed away last night at the age of 63. He was one of the most prominent voices in the “ new age “ literature from Kerala .

“Don’t be afraid, Be bold” This was T.P Rajeevan’s Creative message, says Anita Nair

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/18th_jan_24_b_770x470_0797908b41.jpg" alt="18th-jan-24-b-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_18th_jan_24_b_770x470_0797908b41.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_18th_jan_24_b_770x470_0797908b41.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_18th_jan_24_b_770x470_0797908b41.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">As preparations are in full swing in Ayodhya for the consecration of the Ram Temple on January 22, 2024, a poem written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1900 is getting circulated widely across social media platforms. This iconic poem, in very many ways, reflects the controversies that have come up with regard to the consecration, including the function’s boycott by spiritual leaders such as the Shankaracharyas. The poem was originally written in Bangla with the title ‘Deeno Daan’ (‘Destitute Donation’). The AIDEM is reproducing the poem’s Translation in English and Tamil along with. The Tamil translation is by R Vijaya Sankar, Group Editor of The AIDEM.<hr>There is No God in that Temple, A Poem by Rabindranath Tagore&nbsp;“There is no god in that temple”, said the Saint.&nbsp;The King was enraged;“No God? Oh Saint, aren’t you speaking like an atheist?On that throne studded with priceless gems, beams the golden idol,And yet, you proclaim that it is empty?”&nbsp;“It is not empty; rather, it is full of royal pride.You have bestowed yourself, oh King, not the God of this world”,Remarked the saint.&nbsp;The King frowned, “2 million golden coinswere showered on that grand structure that kisses the sky,I offered it to the Gods after performing all the necessary rituals,And you dare claim that in such a grand temple,There is no presence of God”?&nbsp;The Saint calmly replied“In the very year in which twenty million of your subjects were struck by a terrible drought;The desperate masses without any food or shelter,came begging at your door crying for help, only to be turned away,they were forced to take refuge in forests, caves, camping under roadside foliages, derelict old temples;and in that very year,when you spent 2 million gold coins to build that grand temple of yours,&nbsp;that was the day when God pronounced:‘My eternal home is lit by everlasting lamps,in the midst of an azure sky.In my home the foundations are built with the valuesof Truth, Peace, Compassion and Love.This poverty-stricken puny miser,Who could not provide shelter to his own homeless subjects,Does he really fancy he can give Me a home?’&nbsp;That is the day God left that Temple of yours.And joined the poor beside the roads, under the trees.Like the emptiness of the froth in the vast seas,Your mundane temple is hollow.It is just a bubble of wealth and pride.”&nbsp;The enraged King howled,“oh you sham cretin of a person,Leave my kingdom this instant”.&nbsp;The Saint replied calmly,“To the very place to which you have exiled the Divine,Banish now the devout too”.

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As preparations are in full swing in Ayodhya for the consecration of the Ram Temple on January 22, 2024, a poem written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1900 is getting circulated widely across social media platforms. This iconic poem, in very many ways, reflects the controversies that have come up with regard to the consecration, including the function’s boycott by spiritual leaders such as the Shankaracharyas. The poem was originally written in Bangla with the title ‘Deeno Daan’ (‘Destitute Donation’). The AIDEM is reproducing the poem’s Translation in English and Tamil along with. The Tamil translation is by R Vijaya Sankar, Group Editor of The AIDEM.

literature-1

“Death is your prince, you are not his patron.”

“Don’t be afraid, Be bold” This was T.P Rajeevan’s Creative message, says A...

There is No God in that Temple

“Dil ki baat, Dil se, Dilon tak”