Elisabeth von Braunschweig – Lüneburg (1510-1558)

Continuation of previous blog-post:

European renaissance in fifteenth and sixteenth century created an environment of humanist thought process. Elisabeth from Braunschweig–Lüneburg was brought up in this environment and hence, carried an aura of humanism.

Photo of an woodcut illustration - available with Wikipedia

Her father was Joachim I from Brandenburg and mother was a Danish princess. Both parents were believers of Catholic faith but later her mother was influenced by Martin Luther’s teachings. At the age of fifteen, Elisabeth was married to a catholic Duke Erich I from Braunschweig – Lüneburg, forty years older than hers. After the death of her husband in 1540, she carried on administrative activities guided by reformative principles till her son was grown up to take up the responsibilities.  She had written a textbook on ‘rule of governance’ to guide her son - this is first recorded textbook of this genre written by a woman in Europe. Addressing her subjects, she had written a letter to circulate Christian teachings.  Her last book was a book of consolation for widows, published in 1556.

In 1545, after assigning the responsibility of the governance business to her son, she went for a second marriage. Her son devoted himself into Catholicism; hence a big rift between them was unavoidable. Religious fight led to her exile in Hanover. She started living with her daughter Anna Maria with whom she had a moderate relationship. Elisabeth had written a “friendly and motherly lesson” regarding marital duties as a wedding gift for her daughter.  

During her exile, she did write many religious poems. She started going through the evangelic church-songs this time. Probably she could associate the core of this belief with her situations in life. She had another daughter, Katharina. In 1557, her son got her married to a catholic castellan in secret. The news became the reason bringing deep emotional disturbance for Elisabeth which led into irrecoverable illness. Elisabeth von Braunschweig – Lüneburg passed away after a year.

As a governor, Elisabeth was a farsighted regent and reformation-preacher. She is remembered as a woman pioneer of political and religious writings as well as a spiritual poet.

Couple of paragraphs from „Lebensbericht“ – The Story of my Life

Ey gott mein lieber herre

Lob dich beidt tag vnnd nacht,

Ich will dich auch thun ehrenn,

Sieh, du hast mich gebracht

Ach schwerlich aus Mutterliebe

Bin ich in anngst getzelt (zelt)

Getauft wie es dir gefelt (gefällt).

Im ehestanndt bin ich begebenn

Dem edelenn herrenn mein,

Inn kranngkheit thet ich lebenn,

Ahnn (ohne)furcht thet ich nicht sein,

Creutz. Jammer vnnde schmertze

Was mir alltzeit empor,

Ich schrei zu gott vonn hertzenn,

Dem vngelück kam zuvor.

O God, my dear Lord

I Praise you day and night,

I would honour you too,

While you have created me

Dignified out of mother’s love

And I, the fearful being

Was Christened as your wish.

My marital life with my noble husband was blessed

But as I saw him to fell ill,

I could not stay away from fear,

Burden, misery and pain

That forced me look upwards,

I cried before God from the bottom of my heart,

But the misfortune came before.

And the last paragraph of the “New year song” written for her daughter Katherina:

“Liebes kindt gehorche mir,

Deiner Mutter, das rathe ich dir

Wilt dich ann die welt nit keren,

Liebe mich vnnd ehre got den Herren,

Das lass bei dir pleibenn war,

Das wunsch ich dir zum Newenn Jar.“

Listen to me, my beloved child,

Your mother – I would bless you:

May you live in this world stronger.

Love me and honor God,

The Lord, who is to stay with you.

This is my New-year wish for you.

No-Woman’s Land of German Literary History

The history of German literature starts from 8th/9th century AD with the first likely literary composition “Hildebrandslied”  and “Merseburger Zauberspruche”,  in Early Middle Old German of this epoch. Dr. D. H. Green’s work on women readers of medieval Europe (700-1500 AD) shows women’s commitment to reading in Germany, France and England. The women readers from different social strata actually contributed to the development of literature in Europe. Question is, did the women of that era confined themselves only in reading and never engaged in writing? 

Let’s take the case of Germany. If women authors also contributed in the development of German literature along with their male counterparts over last few centuries, then why do we find so few names of women authors in the German literary history? In fact, the unfortunate part of German literary history is – we are able to trace women’s contribution only partially.

One reason behind this is obviously the paternalistic form of society. Literary history is nothing but a part of the entire socio-cultural history. When the social history is written in a paternalistic form of a society, it is more inclined to glorify the ‘manly’ contributions rather than the ‘feminine’ one. Therefore, the role of the women authors were kind of ignored in the process of keeping the literary history as well. This could be one reason why we identify “Minnesängerinnen” (women minstrel singers) only in 13^th century AD though they might have sung in Old High German also.

Later Middle age religious “prudence” used to practice burning of literature when any of these works was considered against the interest of church and the particular class of people associated to it, irrespective of any gender bias. In the one hand, names of women writers started appearing from this period, i.e. 12th/13th century AD while convents and monasteries started educating nuns, but on the other, content of the writing had to be permitted by religious institutions. Any author, stamped as ‘heretic’ did not have chance to survive; their manuscripts faced the same fate. Some of the women authors were wrapped under their mystic veils. Among them were Gertrud von Helfta, Hildegard von Bingen and Mechthild von Magdeburg, many of the last mentioned one’s writing were burnt. Starting from 17/18^th century, women authors were being published with greater importance; but yet, social class played a big role.  

The mindset that ignored women authors while compiling the history of literary activities can be found even in the writings of Georg Gottfried Gervinus (1805-1871), the father of the German literary history. Creativity and genius were considered to be “manly” qualities even in his 19^th century research work. Economic and biological reasons were shown as the basis of women’s passive role in society and that was supported on moral and ideological grounds. Women were considered to be “born readers” to praise ‘manly talents’ rather than becoming “significant writers” themselves.

Another reason of ignoring women writers was probably political. 19th century German speaking parts of Europe were already in the process of unification and that obviously needed some masculine power in forefront. Nationalism was the symbol of this masculine power and literature was considered to be successful only when it was able to fulfil this “national” interest; in other words, literature took leading role in creating the “national” spirit as long as the German nation state was under consideration. As a result, the part of literature which did not directly participate in “nation building” was not considered to be of any importance.

Between 18^th century-1^st half of the 20^th century, literary activities were supposed to be supported by artist’s forums or circles. If we analyse the reason behind widespread acceptance of the famous authors before or during this time, we find fulfilling certain prerequisites was almost mandatory for a person to be considered as an acceptable author. They had to be formally highly educated and professionally well-established, practitioners of cultural and scientific studies, renowned social and political reformers and nevertheless, taking important role in the world of fine arts revolution. Both Goethe (1749-1832) and Schiller fulfilled all these criteria. Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) was born in a poor household but satisfied education and other criteria to their fullest extent. Moreover, he was one ardent preacher of patriotism: "he who has lost his patriotic spirit has lost himself and the whole worlds about himself" – was his view which also became a popular quote. All of Klemens Brentano (1778 –1842), Georg Büchner (1813 –1837), E.T.A Hoffmann (1776–1822) and others famous authors were all standard-tested this way. On the other hand, due to the prevalent social role-determination, many of the women authors of the same period could not pass these standards. Women hailing from other than the nobility had to take care of only families, were not ‘educated’ in universities, artistically not ‘fine’ and not proficient in science and technologies; naturally lost the chance of being considered as anything significant in the world of literature.

The aesthetical subjectivity developed in post-Gervinus era, which was dominant also in 2^nd half of the 19^th century.  This had no lesser impact as a prerequisite of acceptable literature. Aesthetics in arts and literature was attached to ornate styles which were considered to be an attribute to excellence. By their non-association to university studies, women authors obviously didn’t develop the skill to use ornate styles – compositions were more spontaneous expressions without an understanding of “target-reader”. 

The following lines of  Clara Müller (1861-1905) was probably too direct to be acceptable as carrying ‘fine test’.

“-Und hundert Tage und noch vielmehr

Der Herd ist kalt und die Lade leer.

Am Fest der Liebe kein Jubelton –

Und die Friedensbotschaft ward Hohn, wardHohn!

Schwer hängt der Himmel, wie schiefer grau,

Über den Dächern von Crimmitschau”

Translation:

 -And thousand days and still more

The stove was cold and the lade empty;

None was playing jubeltone in the feast of love –

The message of peace was a joke – only a joke!

The slate gray sky was hanging above,

Over the roofs of Crimmitschau...

Understandable, how the rationale helped in the growth of an idea that women are incapable of creating anything of high aesthetic value.

In the beginning of 20^th century, i.e. post WWI, women’s position in society started changing, still the post war requirement of ‘masculine’ contribution in reconstructing the nation kept the women author  on backstage only. Nazi regime rules anyway had catastrophic impact on German art and culture; there was no reason for great literary development during this period – neither men nor women could contribute to the fullest extent, though their works during this time created a distinct category called war literature\ holocaust literature. Only post WWII Germany, even though politically divided into parts, brought scope of free speech without gender bias. Obviously, German women authors in this period used the scope well to play significant role in modern German literature. 

When 'Achievement' is the Buzzword...

I was brought up in an atmosphere where I didn’t have the scope of learning the significance of the word, “Achievement”. Middle class Bengali homes of Government officers or teaching professionals of pre-Globalisation period simply believed in improvement. Kids were expected to take up reading or painting or singing or dancing as a serious task and parents used to be happy to see kids doing something attentively - running behind excellence was not even dreamt of. The idea of private engineering college did not develop in this region. Good students having an interest for engineering or medical studies had to opt for IIT or couple of Government engineering or medical colleges through rigorous exam process – and any good professor or teacher or theatre actor in the locality used to draw more respect than that an engineer did. Hence children in every family were not pressurized to become an engineer, “the achiever”.

I came to know of the concepts of “Achievement” and “Achiever” much later. And the moment I introduced to these, I was amazed! Everyone in a civilized society has to run behind some or other achievement in order to become an achiever. Taking up a profession of a mere teacher or engineer or singer is not enough – one has to be an achiever. So a teacher has to prove his capability by the size of three-storied house – otherwise how would society know that the person is a good teacher? An engineer has to inevitably land up in the Dreamland of America – can anyone prove own skill anywhere else in the world? A musician should be able to sale the music in a particular amount to prove his ability – what else but the count of purchasers prove the distinction of a musician? Yes everyone needs to be distinct and everyone has to be noticeable – the world is no place for non-celebrities!

I met men and women in the workshops of the enterprises who are all celebrities – achievers from different domains – all striving to become the best achiever of the world. Symbol of achievement? – A service-person’s job serving the richer countries of the world, preferably a long term onsite stay, an apartment in a prestigious high-rise in a high-tech city and presence in social media. Yes, social media – the revolutionary concept of post-globalised world brings the scope of becoming a celebrity to everyone – even a Singapore banker who spent thirty years of life in manoeuvring Share market strategies and never exposed to an idea called ‘literature’ finds the scope of becoming a “Bestseller author” with the help of social media. How easy is it to prove that everyone can be ‘achiever’ and everything is ‘achievable’! Why not you and me become achievers too?

And I started pitying the distant relative who rejected a job-offer from United States of America in 1960s even after standing first in a reputed engineering college here - he was not ready to accept the kind foreigner’s offer of a labourer’s job there! I started pitying the Shakespeare-expert neighbour who opted for a teacher’s job in a nearby school to be able to stay with her ailing parents. I was amazed at the dance of democracy everywhere – which means everyone can become a king or queen! Only thing one has to find out is the arena where one wants to become an achiever – of course it needs the mindset of a gladiator - one needs the killer-instinct to crush anything that comes on the way of becoming an achiever!

And how easy the life became with the help of media, of which social media is a part – one need not practice anything for years. Not even the gladiator-like wrestling skill is needed to look like a wrestler – only make sure that you make some sensitive comments before media – enough to ensure your becoming an ‘achiever’ earning a fortune!. Photoshop gives us the power to look beautiful, claim to be an expeditionist, or prove our skill as an illustrator. Sound mixing software can make even a donkey sound like a Gandharva – your out of tune human voice is not an issue at all. Upload your photos on social media dressing up like a dancer – you are a dancer! Want to impress people being good cook? Take a selfie in a well-decorated kitchen and post that on social media along with a recipe having ingredients like all kinds of spices from all over the world – you are a Chef! ERP software gives us the power to control and standardise. Now it’s time to standardise and control achievements and achievers to make everyone a celebrity.

You still didn’t find how to become an ‘achiever’ and in which field? Try to survive in the terrorism–torn world a little more days and then find a social media channel to reveal your secret of survival before the world – eating only baked beans and sprout\ no alcohol but only Arabica coffee \ practicing Yoga – there are numerous options. If you are a women, you may announce ‘avoiding men in life’ is your secret of survival – men who sell guns or practice gunfight – you are going to become a celebrity achiever in the last lap of your life! 

A Very Short Note on Fables from Germany

Fables and fairy tales significantly represent regional cultural tradition. Germany, as it developed as a culturally conscious nation, tried to preserve its cultural tradition since the inception of German nation. Collecting popular fables and fairy tales in and around the region was part of this conscious effort to preserve.

Many of those stories might have migrated from eastern part of the globe; many of those brought from Indian peninsula to Europe, presumably by Arabic and Mediterranean traders, who were playing the role of a bridge between East and West in early medieval and medieval ages, along with carrying goods. Well, trading between countries not only ensured goods movement from one place to another but also became an inevitable medium of cultural exchange between regions since the beginning of history of trading in the world. In course of time, stories of Eastern origin, which became popular in Germanic regions, became part of cultural tradition there. The assimilation of literary tradition of other places played an interesting role in the European literary development.

But the most remarkable thing in the whole process is the dedicated effort of European scholars to collect their own. We are all well aware of the collection of Grimm brother’s who collected 231 fables altogether. A lesser known German collector of fables and fairy tales is: 

Josef Haltrich -  was born in Regen (the then Sächsisch Regen, Siebenbürgen), the town in present Bavaria, in 22^nd July, 1822. He studied in Schäßburg and completed his studies in Gymnasium with distinction in 1845. Then he moved to Leipzig to take part in a two year long theological studies program and classical as well as German philology. He came back to Regen in 1847 and the next year, he was appointed at the Schäßburger Gymnasium. He became the rector of the Gymnasium at 1869 and continued till 1972. He left Schäßburg in the same year to join the perish office in Schaas. He started observing climatic conditions here. We find these well recorded in his notebooks. The Verein für siebenbürgische Landeskunde requested him to compose a Siebenbürgisch (seven-state)-Sächsisch dictionary. After this, he was called by German National Museum in Nürnberg to be a part of the scholarly committee which had taken pivotal role in preserving German history and culture.
Josef Haltrich passed away in 1886 in Schass, Siebenbürgen.

Josef's whole lifetime was not a bed of roses for him of course. He had to struggle against bad health as well as troubles of war situations in Europe which was a forcing factor behind his changing places few times. Notable is, even while going through all troubles, his passion for working with cultural history remained constant. This guided him in compiling large collection of fairy tales and fables in his 64 year life span which draws our utmost admiration even today. 

One small fable collected by Josef Haltrich:

THE BUFFALO AND THE TINY FISH
Once upon a time, a large buffalo came to a streamlet to drink water. She had an insatiable thirst and hence, kept on drinking and drinking. But there lived a tiny fish in that streamlet. The fish was always happy; always hopping and jumping cheerfully, it used to play with the sparkling stones, scattered everywhere under the water.

The buffalo’s continued drinking scared the tiny fish that he would drink all the water in the stream. So it told the buffalo: “Why are you drinking so much? Do you want me to die in the dried sand? Stop or else I will make you stop!”

But the buffalo mocked at him and grumbled: “Wow! You tiny snippet, I am so scared of you! Take care that I don't drink you too!” - And she continued drinking till there was no water remaining in the streamlet.

This made the tiny fish very angry. It jumped high and made itself huge within a moment and then - swallowed the beast in a single gulp.

Buffalo got the result of what it had done. What made him drink all the water the poor tiny fish was surviving in and moreover, mock at that?

Der verrückte Dashu

Einmal beim Mahlzeit kam Dashu eilig zu mir zu sagen: "Bitte verstreck den Schlüssel des Kastes bei dir und sei vorsichtig dass du ihn nicht verlierst. Momentan gehe ich hinaus. Bitte gib es den Pförtner wenn ich spät bin." Dann gab er den kasten dem Pförtner und ging weg. 

Öffensichtlich waren wir sehr froh. Zu dem Zeitpunkt hatten wir eine „CHANCE“ und warteten nur auf die richtige Zeit wann der Pförtner weg wäre. Nach einige Minuten ging der Pförtner weg um seine Kuchengeräten zu spülen. Wir waren bereit und sobald er hinaus war, nahmen wir unsere Chance wahr; öffneten den Kasten mit Hilfe des Schlüssels. 

Es gab noch eine schwere Kiste drin, die mit einem Tuchschen gut eingewickelt war. Wir packten es aus und fand noch einen Kistchen drin; in den Kistchen gab es eine Karte. Auf einer Seite der Karte war es geschrieben „Pustekuchen!“  und auf der andere, „Zuviel Neugierigkeit ist schlecht.“ Wir stellten uns so Dumm! – es war unglaublich! Endlich hat jemand gesagt: „Ein kluger Knabe ist er – hat uns lächerlich gemacht.“ Ein anderer Freund sagte: „Packen wir es wieder als es zum beginn war. Er sollte es nicht verstehen dass wir es geöffnet haben. Dann wird er selber lächerlich.“ Ich sagte: „Na gut, wir sollen ihm den Kasten aushändigen gleich nachdem er zurückkommt und danach fragt ihr wiedermals was er darin gelegt.“ Wir packten ihn schnell wieder. Als ich versuchte es wider zu schlissen, hörten wir einen Lärm eines Gelächter – wir sah herum und fand den lachender Dashu auf den Wand! Solange machte sich der Knabe heimlich Spass über uns! Jetzt könnten wir verstehen, warum er mir den Schlussel und dem Pförtner den Kasten gegeben hatte, und nur tat er so als er bei der Mahlzeit ausser der Schule war. Es wurde nur ein irrwitziges Abenteuer.

Übersetzung von einer absurden Erzählung von Sukumar Roy

Remembering Rijuda – an Impressive Creation by Buddhadev Guha

I do not know how many of new generation Bengalis have read Buddhadev Guha – or how many of them can read Bengali. But if any of my blog readers reads this, perhaps this will make them remember one of their childhood heroes. To my blog readers from other countries – this may help in understanding a fast extinguishing people called “Bengali intellectuals”.   

When did Rijuda first appear? Bibliography says the first Rijuda story “Rijudar sange jangale” (In the wild, with Rijuda) was published in 1973. But I was first introduced to Rijuda in “Gugunogumbarer Deshe” (In the land of Gugunogumbar) in 1981. Rijuda was the first person to tell me that, there is a language called Swahili in Tanzania. How do they speak Swahili? – First letter of proper nouns is often dropped while pronouncing – so you write “Ngorongoro” and pronounce the same as “Gorongoro”.  This was a great discovery for a 10 year old kid of course! In addition, the fiction offers the scope of travelling in the national parks in Africa with Rijuda – a young adventurous Bengali having a passion for wild life, hunting, history, geography, anthropology and what not! He is a connoisseur of fine arts, exploring all corners of music, painting, film and theatre. Moreover, he makes friends with Masai leaders and fights against poachers. Children love knowledgeable people to travel with. I also did - identifying myself with Rijuda’s young follower and biographer – Rudra! Rijuda was wounded by a bullet shot by a poacher, a betrayer who Rijuda trusted as a friend in this story. Probably that made the kid more affectionate to the human hero – a reason to read more Rijuda stories.

What a wonder! In ‘Rijudar sange jangale’, I discovered that a grown up man like Rijuda loves dogs – he has seven named sa-re-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni, who unfortunately disappeared in the stories later.

Another interesting fact is - Rijuda also stays in Bishop Lefroy Road – the address of the great Satyajit Ray. Is there any resemblance between Rijuda and Satayjit Ray, who was known as “Manikda” in his close circle? Yes – both these tall and large Bengalis are storehouse of knowledge, both have several companions waiting to accompany them in their adventurous journey through life, both are pipe-smokers, both are celebrated Bengali “Dada”s. I do not suspect that Bengali “dada-culture” was directly influenced by European avant-garde Dadaism but yes, “Dada”s in Bengal’s literary and cultural circle are synonymous to intellectual superiority. I do not know whether Satyajit Ray was an inspiring model for Rijuda’s character. Satyajit never went for hunting at least!

I cannot remember exactly in which year I read “Ruaha” – we can call this a sequel of “Gugunogumbarer Deshe”. In this story, Rijuda went back to the same Tanzanian national park twice to complete his unfinished task of eliminating the poachers. Probably this is the only place which Rijuda visited twice. The wonderful addition made in Ruaha is Titir - an intelligent, slim, adventurous Bengali teen-age girl. In the beginning, I was similarly confused like Rudra and Bhatkai, both cousins of Rijuda, whether a girl should be included in the team – but the plan was ‘magnifique’, I realized later. How did we know otherwise that even Indian girls can be excellent rifle shooters? Dadas are incomplete without followers – same way Sherlock Holmes cannot exist without Dr. Watson. But the uniqueness of a Bengali dada lies in his leadership skill. He is mentor for growing children. He not only educates his followers about the marvels of science and arts, but also trains them to become adventurists. He is a hunter who permits his companions to hunt, not being too possessive about own kill. The incorrigible Bhatkai and Gadadhar, the incredible cook working for unmarried Rijuda, play the role of comic relief as well.

Rijuda is foodie. There are references of mouth watering dishes in many of the stories. Gadadhar, as told earlier, is an expert chef to prepare his everyday food in Kolkata. During their trip, neither Rijuda, nor Rudra or Bhatkai leaves a single chance of trying local delicacies. Rijuda earns well, spends a lot not only for food and lifestyle but also for his near ones. The open hearted man tries to reward his friends like Durgada. His incredible friend’s circle includes Indian Maharajas to govt officials, English forest lovers to Indian villagers – only with the condition that they have to be nice and honest.  

Typical about Rijuda is, though compassionate, he is not a part of the nature or natural environment he visits. He is an ardent observer who has profound knowledge of the places he visits. He loves forests; bewitched by the nature’s beauty, interested in animal conservation, he visited all famous national parks and forests in Africa and India, but never tried to adopt a forest-dweller’s lifestyle. Staying in luxurious forest bungalows during his trips, enjoying good food and smoking the exclusive Meerschaum pipes – he proves his self awareness. He comes from Bengali upper middle class and never tries to hide it. He is politically conscious. Annoyed with Rup Kanwar killing incident in Rajasthan and Pakistan’s way of handling convicts, poverty in Indian remote villages and brainless dominance of Indian feudalism – the intellectual Calcutta guy critically analyses things from the viewpoint of educated urban Bengali, even without being drawn into any of those consequences. His attraction to classicism is well expressed in “Rijudar sathe Lobongi bone”  - where he describes his acquaintances, all high officials in different Government organisations , the ultimate destination of Bengali educated upper middle class since British era. Another remarkable Bengali feature attached to Rijuda’s character is the obsession for very good marks in exams. Bengali children are not acceptable as human being even in the families unless they do very well in exams – so Rudra is a winner of national scholarship in Higher secondary, the most prestigious 12^th standard exam in the country till mid-nineties because of its difficulty level. (This Bengali obsession is started seeing a change post-90’s with the introduction of globalisation and rise of neo-middle class).

As a grown up reader, I found the immense importance of Rijuda stories in explaining the socio-economic history of Bihar-Jharkhand Orissa region, area which Rijuda visits again and again. Sometimes staying in forest bungalows, sometimes being a guest of Indian royals – the economic status of whom did not change even after the royalty was abolished. The underground practice of poaching and illegal mining, exploitation of commoners, simplicity of underprivileged rural people and ferocity of local mafia, new generation of Indian criminals having contact with drug and gambling rackets of the world  - all are narrated, not always in a loud tune, but enough for a reader to identify the areas.

Finally, we should talk about the most significant quality in Rijuda – compliance to rule of law! He loves his extended family, he honours friendship; is loyal to human ethics. In the beginning, he did not mind hunting bears and wild boars at the simple request of forest villagers. But later, he developed himself as a conservationist. He goes for hunting only to kill rogue elephants and man-eater tigers, with a heart full of compassion for the ill-fated animal. At the same time, he does not mind taking the role of a rough and tuff detective the moment he smells some illegal activities.  Yes, not all his adventures are hunting stories; he is simultaneously successful as a detective! He experimented with writing as well. “Moulir Raat”and “Tadbaghoa” were successful adventure stories. I remember another story, “Tinkodi” written by Rijuda himself. Probably he lost patience for writing later.

Rijuda disappeared from public sight. He simply vanished after his Sufkar journey in 1993. Probably spending his retired life in some forest bungalow, watching porcupines, Indian bison, tigers, boars and elephants in the bewitching greens and reds and yellows of the wild, under the sky that changes colours several times a day  -  civilised world is altered so much that a man like Rijuda feels like an alien these days.   Rijuda – ‘The strong one’ as the meaning of the word suggests, remains an uncompromising Bengali intellectual nature lover.

More on Buddhadev Guha- the author: http://www.calcuttayellowpages.com/adver/108955.html