Home > Art & Culture > Literature > English prose

 

Ruud Lohman  The colour of women Writers Workshop 1986 (oop) Several of the short stories in this volume are tinted by an atmosphere of desperation, born from a search for identity, a test of beliefs. A telling metaphor is one from the title story, in which a man who is changed by the love of a woman ends his crisis because of this change by running headlong into a mirror. The search runs through both realistic and imaginative themes and ranges in subject material from the psychological to the mystical. However, most of the stories are well grounded in anecdotal narrative that has live people in it. A house for the third millennium. Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press - 1992 In this collection of essays Lohman looks upon Matrimandir as the soul of Auroville. It is through this soul that he meditates on the Mother, Auroville and those who decided to live in Auroville. In doing so he put his fingers on many of the aspects of living in Auroville, a dream meant to come true. As such it reads as part of an autobiography that moves into wider perspectives. The issue of this book, Lohman's clearest, is not whether we agree with him, but that he had the courage to face all the questions that anybody living in Auroville might come to ask him or herself. In Auroville it is considered by many to be a good book for those who would consider coming to Auroville.

Iniyan Lemurian Writers Workshop 1987 (oop-ca) Part prose part essay, this book is about the discoveries of an inquisitive Western mind that knows itself surrounded by Indian reality. In the course of getting his own questions answered, Lohman has interesting things to say about what it means being an expatriate, and at that working for an ideal, Auroville and the building of Matrimandir. Describing the meeting between a western and eastern man in a real life situation, Lohman's scholarly prose reaches into both the Dravidian culture and the writer's quest of building yet another structure for the unity of mankind.

Vijay  The City and the Oasis The first part of this book is a metaphor of the sixties, the flower children, and the strange bypath some of us had to go thought to reach here. The second part, the largest, is about a certain ashram. There are visions, contacts with Mother and Nolini, a savage attack against abuse of power, some humor, a satire of certain aspect of life there. The last part, where it gets very surreal, is about AV. Which is not to say that the book as such is an easy read. We recommend it to those with a knack for the surreal, though those familiar with Auroville may more easily recognize the setting.

Anu M. Legrand  Parallel Journeys Magus 1997 As a weaving of language and images, this story is about the weaving of patterns in how lovers meet. A real life story takes the shape of the old Upanishadic tale of Maiteryi and Yajnawalkya. Or ……. is it the other way around? The result is a delicately wrought tale and as such a fresh breath alongside the commercial market of life-confession books with a moral. "The story weaves in and out of he Vedic past and the contemporary present, interlinking two strangers on their parallel journeys that bind them closer with each step", as the cover announces. Which is what happens and it is well worth reading how this comes about. No doubt a major book to have come out of the Auroville community.

Krishna Tewari  A soldier's voyage to self-discovery All India Press - 1995 During an active career in the Indian Army, General Tewari encounters seemingly random events leading to the unpredictable outcome of battles. Acquainted with the Mother, Sri Aurobindo and the Ashram, he decides to retire in Pondicherry, to examine his own role in what appeared random. In 1980 he came to live in Auroville, where he started on this autobiographical meditation. The first part of the book reads as the diary of a soldier. The narrative is detailed, but due to Tewari's aversion to politics the details tend to stand upon themselves, within the realm of soldiering. The second part reflects on the first part and deals with Tewari's self-discovery. All of which is written in a factual, straightforward narrative.

François Gautier Arise O India Har-Anand Publications - 2000 And: India's Self denial Auroville Press - 2001 Historians have long held that India was a melting pot of Western influences and that she owes many of her achievements through Aryan invasions or the Greek incursions of Alexander the Great. But more and more discoveries have disproved such theories. At the dawn of the third millennium there are two giants in Asia: China and India. But where China chose for communism, India has remained a democracy from the time of independence and the spirit of Dharma has been preserved in this land, in spite of ten centuries of invasions. In his book François Gautier looks at the history of India and into India's future. He writes against the background of his studies in Sri Aurobindo, whose visions on India can be traced through quotations. 'Arise O India' is a small contribution to a large topic, yet in its briefness and urgency it may well inspire the reader to read more on the subject. "India's Self-denial" is a condensed version of "Arise O India". François Gautier A Western Journalist on India Har-Anand Publications - 2001 This book contains fourteen articles, which Gautier wrote in the course of his twenty years of stay in India. The pieces have appeared in 'Blitz', the 'Hindustan Times' and the 'Indian Express' and are presented in book-form as "the story of Gautier's awakening to what he feels is the true India". They treat mostly of contemporary topics such as minorities, the international media and India's relations with its neighbouring countries. In many ways it is supplementary to his book 'Arise O India'. What it shares with this book is the writer's urgency concerning his topic, which is the resurrection of the glory that, though presently hidden under many influences from the outside, is India. Claude Arpi  The fate of Tibet Har-Anand Publications - 1999 "The fate of Tibet" reads as a factual account of this country since the sixteenth century. It carefully traces all influences of globalization on what was known as the "roof of the world". The result of this is that the Chinese emerged as political rulers, where Tibet has a more religious outlook on government. Arpi's book has a strong historical slant to it and due to its factual presentation the book is a compact glossary of the history of Tibet.