Long, Long Ago
The Indian Quarterly|April - June 2020
Arundhuti Dasgupta and Utkarsh Patel recount obscure creation myths from around the world, many echoing each other
Arundhuti Dasgupta and Utkarsh Patel
Long, Long Ago

Izanagi and Izanami C. 1900 CE Nishikawa Sukenobu

THE GREEK WORD MYTHOS ORIGINALLY meant ‘word’ or ‘story’. But time wrought new meaning into it, limit-ing both its reach and scope. As Herodotus (Greek, 4c BCE) established the concept of historical fact, ‘mythos’ was debunked. It came to stand for fiction, or that which was not (entirely) true, a matter of conjecture that had been handed down anonymously, standing apart from ‘logos’, which came to us from an authorised source.

Over time mythos was further disenfranchised. History, science, philosophy, literature and other formal disciplines separated themselves from the jumble of ideas that gave the word its power and meaning. Even so, even with its frontiers breached, mythos/myth/mythology has held its own. Preserved as sacred stories, they are often seen as markers for civilisational identity and early human thought.

Myths reveal humankind’s perennial quest for meaning. They bind us in a web of common themes and anxieties, revealing the imprint of a shared intangible inheritance of big ideas. Nothing illustrates this more effectively than myths about the creation of the universe and that of mankind. How the universe came to be is a puzzle that every civilisation has struggled to solve.

Into the light, out of darkness

The Zuni, a Native American tribe, believe the world began in darkness. All beings lived in the dark, were made of slime and had webbed feet, hands and horns and tails. The Zuni imagination recalls an original being called Áwonawílona, who contained the world within him. He began the act of creation by projecting his inner thoughts onto the outside world and, as he did that, manifested himself as a mist-filled space and a self-realising image, the sun.

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FLERE HISTORIER FRA THE INDIAN QUARTERLYSe alt
The Image-Maker
The Indian Quarterly

The Image-Maker

Sukumar Ray’s most vivid images were saved for his classics of nonsense verse, but his singular eye, writes Nabarupa Bhattacharjee, found its earliest expression in photography

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8 mins  |
April - June 2020
The Nawab's Last Sigh
The Indian Quarterly

The Nawab's Last Sigh

Rudely awakened by the fact of independent India, an aristocrat in Meerut clung to his past. Now, he tells Sunaina Kumar, all he has left are his memories of a glorious age.

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10 mins  |
April - June 2020
The Guest
The Indian Quarterly

The Guest

Vaiyavan is the nom de plume of MSP Murugesan. Born in 1936, he did sundry jobs before obtaining postgraduate degrees by correspondence and then served as an English and Tamil teacher till his retirement in 1996. His writing career began in 1956. Multifaceted and prolific, he has to his credit a long list of short story collections, novels, plays, literary essays, poems and children’s stories. He has won several awards including Tamil Nadu government awards for best book on culture (1982) and best science book (1992) and the Malcolm Adiseshiah award for active participation in neo-literacy activities (1996). In his short stories and novels, Vaiyavan revels in a zest for life. Humaneness is the hallmark of his work, as the pain and pleasure, trials and tribulations of people in different rungs of society are described in minute detail. —CGR

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10+ mins  |
April - June 2020
The Birth of an Anthem
The Indian Quarterly

The Birth of an Anthem

From right-wing slogan to moving patriotic song and now back to Hindu nationalistic war cry. Rimli Sengupta on the evolution of Vande Mataram

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10+ mins  |
April - June 2020
The Birth of a Parent
The Indian Quarterly

The Birth of a Parent

The beginning of a new life can create other strange new lives, reflects Manidipa Mandal

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10+ mins  |
April - June 2020
The Unknown Soldier
The Indian Quarterly

The Unknown Soldier

One man wondered and worried about his disappeared brother all his life.His granddaughter continued the search. Preksha Sharma resurrects a man and his story

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10+ mins  |
April - June 2020
The Art Scene
The Indian Quarterly

The Art Scene

For the new kid on the block, it certainly has pedigree. The Centre for Con-temporary Art, housed within Delhi’s Bikaner House complex, finally opened its portals to welcome art aficionados during this year’s edition of the India Art Fair. Nature Morte was invited to stage the centre’s much-awaited inaugural show, an opportunity the gallery found too irresistible to pass up. The ambitious exhibition it mounted, The Idea of the Acrobat, occupied both floors of the recently renovated building and brought together the works of a dozen well known artists in a multitude of media. The line-up included Bharti Kher, Atul Dodiya, Dayanita Singh, Shilpa Gupta, Ayesha Singh, Khyentse Norbu and LN Tallur to name but a few.

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3 mins  |
April - June 2020
Long, Long Ago
The Indian Quarterly

Long, Long Ago

Arundhuti Dasgupta and Utkarsh Patel recount obscure creation myths from around the world, many echoing each other

time-read
10+ mins  |
April - June 2020
Family Business
The Indian Quarterly

Family Business

AT THE DINDUKKAL BUS DEPOT, the abortionist pushed her way through the crowd thronging the bus and finally managed to board it. She placed her travel bag beside her on the seat, calling out to her niece to hurry up. The young woman renewed her efforts to break free of the tangle of limbs and claim the seat reserved for her.

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10+ mins  |
April - June 2020
A Goan Childhood
The Indian Quarterly

A Goan Childhood

Fragments of memory of a time long gone, from a life lived far away. By Selma Carvalho

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9 mins  |
April - June 2020