I am pleased to announce the August meeting of the Literature Club, Pune.
The details are:
Date: Sunday, August 14, 2011
Time: 10:30 am
Venue: Empress Garden
Topics:
1. Prisons as depicted in literature
2. Drama and literature
As before, please do indicte to Ila if you are unable to make it to the meeting.
Thanks and Regards
Vasu
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Summary of the July Meeting
This summary courtesy Air Commodore (Retd) Pankaj Mehrotra
'Characters as depicted in literature’ as well as 'Travel as depicted in literature' were the topics discussed freely by participants invited by Brig. Satish Inamdar. The participants included Dr. Phiroze Poonawala, Ms Kusum Gokarn, Ms Shama, Mr. Vasu Ramanujam & Ms. Lalita, Ms. Ila Gautam, Ms Renuka Vijairaghavan and young member Mridula Vijairaghavan and Air Cmde Pankaj Mehrotra.
Satish conducted the proceedings. Renuka had researched the topic diligently and ook us on a voyage to 'The Treasure Island', complete with characterisation of 'Long John Silver' (eye-patch, tap-tap of wooden leg et-al!), graphic description of Pirates emphasising that we know these fictitious characters much better than real life persons. This generated a few observations from members present. Later she referred to Thomas Hardy, Pearl S Buck and Gerald Durrell's writings. Her comments on the masterly characterization of the protagonist by actor Anthony Quinn in the movie version of the (heavy) classic 'Old Man & The Sea ' prompted a parallel with 'Guns of Navarone' by Satish.
Lalita spoke on "Pride & Prejudice" and "God Father" eliciting favourable response from all. She spoke of the journey to Sweden to the city of Lund and the admirable concern common folk have for environment and ecology. She was impressed by their use of bicycles. Vasu was enthused by ‘Obelix’ and regaled us with his fixation with the magic potion. Tin-Tin also had a cathartic effect on him since he was in different cities all the time. Later, while commenting on “Samarkand” his quote of Vijay Nambisan: “Travelling is taking your unwantedness elsewhere", led to introspection & reflection. Star Trek and the Philedelphia Experiment drew attention. His narration of Singer Jagjit Singh's recounting of a joke on Darts & missing wives drew applause. Dr. Poonawala spoke about his journeys to Turkey and Greece and the pristine manner of preservation of Mosques, Churches and Chariot Tracks.
Kusum spoke sensitively on “Eat Pray & Love” ... Somerset Maugham's ' Way of All Flesh". and Ramayana/ Mahabharata. She alluded to the character Jeeves in P. G. Wodehouse‘s Creations.
Shama said that the topic on travel lends itself to classification. She recommended "Odyssey ' .. by Homer, Inferno by Dante, Area of Darkness by William Darymple , "Wounded Civilisation" and 9 lives in Search of India by V.S. Naipal and also on the subject of constructive wanderlust by referring to the 5 to 10 year long voyages of Charles Darwin on HMS Beagle wherein were chronicled the saga of painstaking collection of specimens of flora & fauna across continents centuries ago resulting in the magnum opus " Origin of Species ". During these voyages he came face to face with Orang-outang and the 'Theory' of the 'Survival of the Fittest' took shape.
Satish Inamdar also spoke about Pu La Deshpande's work 'Vyakti ani Vyasli' - on characterisation of people from various walks of life - and "Maneshi Mansay" by Sankaresh Mangukar.
Young member Mridula Vijairaghavan read out exquisite passages from her favourite books viz. 'The King and I' .. by Prerna Singh Bindra , 'Drunken Forest , My
Family & Other Animals " by Gerald Durrell taking us on the trail of Big Beasts.
She liked Alice in Wonderland, Her favourite character was 'SPIRO' .
Since I had brought some cookies and biscuits made by Tihar Jail inmates to supplement the hot tea provided by Dr. Poonawala, the captive audience could listen patiently to me when I spoke about HG Wells and "The Time Machine" and summed up the proceedings!
.. Air Commodore ( Retd.) Pankaj Mehrotra
'Characters as depicted in literature’ as well as 'Travel as depicted in literature' were the topics discussed freely by participants invited by Brig. Satish Inamdar. The participants included Dr. Phiroze Poonawala, Ms Kusum Gokarn, Ms Shama, Mr. Vasu Ramanujam & Ms. Lalita, Ms. Ila Gautam, Ms Renuka Vijairaghavan and young member Mridula Vijairaghavan and Air Cmde Pankaj Mehrotra.
Satish conducted the proceedings. Renuka had researched the topic diligently and ook us on a voyage to 'The Treasure Island', complete with characterisation of 'Long John Silver' (eye-patch, tap-tap of wooden leg et-al!), graphic description of Pirates emphasising that we know these fictitious characters much better than real life persons. This generated a few observations from members present. Later she referred to Thomas Hardy, Pearl S Buck and Gerald Durrell's writings. Her comments on the masterly characterization of the protagonist by actor Anthony Quinn in the movie version of the (heavy) classic 'Old Man & The Sea ' prompted a parallel with 'Guns of Navarone' by Satish.
Lalita spoke on "Pride & Prejudice" and "God Father" eliciting favourable response from all. She spoke of the journey to Sweden to the city of Lund and the admirable concern common folk have for environment and ecology. She was impressed by their use of bicycles. Vasu was enthused by ‘Obelix’ and regaled us with his fixation with the magic potion. Tin-Tin also had a cathartic effect on him since he was in different cities all the time. Later, while commenting on “Samarkand” his quote of Vijay Nambisan: “Travelling is taking your unwantedness elsewhere", led to introspection & reflection. Star Trek and the Philedelphia Experiment drew attention. His narration of Singer Jagjit Singh's recounting of a joke on Darts & missing wives drew applause. Dr. Poonawala spoke about his journeys to Turkey and Greece and the pristine manner of preservation of Mosques, Churches and Chariot Tracks.
Kusum spoke sensitively on “Eat Pray & Love” ... Somerset Maugham's ' Way of All Flesh". and Ramayana/ Mahabharata. She alluded to the character Jeeves in P. G. Wodehouse‘s Creations.
Shama said that the topic on travel lends itself to classification. She recommended "Odyssey ' .. by Homer, Inferno by Dante, Area of Darkness by William Darymple , "Wounded Civilisation" and 9 lives in Search of India by V.S. Naipal and also on the subject of constructive wanderlust by referring to the 5 to 10 year long voyages of Charles Darwin on HMS Beagle wherein were chronicled the saga of painstaking collection of specimens of flora & fauna across continents centuries ago resulting in the magnum opus " Origin of Species ". During these voyages he came face to face with Orang-outang and the 'Theory' of the 'Survival of the Fittest' took shape.
Satish Inamdar also spoke about Pu La Deshpande's work 'Vyakti ani Vyasli' - on characterisation of people from various walks of life - and "Maneshi Mansay" by Sankaresh Mangukar.
Young member Mridula Vijairaghavan read out exquisite passages from her favourite books viz. 'The King and I' .. by Prerna Singh Bindra , 'Drunken Forest , My
Family & Other Animals " by Gerald Durrell taking us on the trail of Big Beasts.
She liked Alice in Wonderland, Her favourite character was 'SPIRO' .
Since I had brought some cookies and biscuits made by Tihar Jail inmates to supplement the hot tea provided by Dr. Poonawala, the captive audience could listen patiently to me when I spoke about HG Wells and "The Time Machine" and summed up the proceedings!
.. Air Commodore ( Retd.) Pankaj Mehrotra
Monday, May 2, 2011
Summer Break
Dear friends,
This is to remind you that the Literature Club is enjoying it's usual summer break so there will be no meeting on Sunday the 08 May 2011.
See you all in June then.
- Ila Gautam
This is to remind you that the Literature Club is enjoying it's usual summer break so there will be no meeting on Sunday the 08 May 2011.
See you all in June then.
- Ila Gautam
Monday, March 7, 2011
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Announcement of the September meeting
The September meeting of the Literature Club, Pune will be held as per the details given below:
1. Date: Sunday, September 12, 2010
2. Time: 10:30 am
3. Venue: Empress Garden, Pune
4. Topics for discussion: a. Life close to Nature; b. Feeling the presence of God
1. Date: Sunday, September 12, 2010
2. Time: 10:30 am
3. Venue: Empress Garden, Pune
4. Topics for discussion: a. Life close to Nature; b. Feeling the presence of God
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Announcement of the August 2010 meeting
Here's the announcement of the August 2010 meeting:
Date: Sunday, August 8, 2010
Time: 10:30 am
Venue: Empress Garden
Topics:
1. Social Reforms and Religion as depicted in literature.
2. Your favourite author.
Date: Sunday, August 8, 2010
Time: 10:30 am
Venue: Empress Garden
Topics:
1. Social Reforms and Religion as depicted in literature.
2. Your favourite author.
July Meeting Notes
One new member Mr. Kapadia was welcomed by the Group. Also this was Dr. Khan’s last meeting before going back to UK.
Topic 1. Feminine traits in male characters as depicted in Literature and vice versa
Four speakers spoke on the first topic.
Mr. Kaushik started with the story of Ardhanarishwar. How the three goddesses asked God to give them power to be better than the others.
Kusum Gokarn spoke about the movie Jogwa and how under the name of religion young girls and boys are sacrificed to Goddess Yellamma.
Mr. Mehrotra spoke of Shrikhandi’s character in the Mahabharat.
Mr. Rajagopalan spoke of how women can display the emotions of men but it is difficult for men to display emotions like women. He quoted the anecdote of how when a General asked all those who are afraid of their wives to stand aside. He saw one person not going out. When the General probed the man said his wife had warned him not to go where there are crowds. He also quoted Julius Caesar.
Topic 2. Rituals and traditions as depicted in literature.
Five speakers spoke on the second topic.
Brig Inamdar pointed out that all lady prime ministers of different countries have led their countries to war, thus displaying masculine characteristics.
Rahul Mate quoted a few films in which this topic is portrayed. Gone with the Wind was one of them. He also spoke of the movie Jogwa as well as Chocolat . He also mentioned Elton John’s tribute to Princess Diana.
Dr. Khan spoke on the topic of rituals and traditions. He read some part of the book Pride and Prejudice wherein Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth and her reply to him.
Mr. Rajagopalan spoke of how rituals followed during marriages and death ceremonies depict the traditions in any community.
Vasu spoke about how tradition is well depicted in the Movie Fiddler on the Roof. Where the hero is caught between whether he should follow tradition or allow his daughters to marry those they fall in love with. The movie also has a song called tradition. Vasu also spoke about the book to kill a mocking bird in which the main character Atticus Finch takes up a case of a black boy who is wrongly charged with rape of a white girl and how his family has to face the brunt.
Thanks to Lalita for this update
Topic 1. Feminine traits in male characters as depicted in Literature and vice versa
Four speakers spoke on the first topic.
Mr. Kaushik started with the story of Ardhanarishwar. How the three goddesses asked God to give them power to be better than the others.
Kusum Gokarn spoke about the movie Jogwa and how under the name of religion young girls and boys are sacrificed to Goddess Yellamma.
Mr. Mehrotra spoke of Shrikhandi’s character in the Mahabharat.
Mr. Rajagopalan spoke of how women can display the emotions of men but it is difficult for men to display emotions like women. He quoted the anecdote of how when a General asked all those who are afraid of their wives to stand aside. He saw one person not going out. When the General probed the man said his wife had warned him not to go where there are crowds. He also quoted Julius Caesar.
Topic 2. Rituals and traditions as depicted in literature.
Five speakers spoke on the second topic.
Brig Inamdar pointed out that all lady prime ministers of different countries have led their countries to war, thus displaying masculine characteristics.
Rahul Mate quoted a few films in which this topic is portrayed. Gone with the Wind was one of them. He also spoke of the movie Jogwa as well as Chocolat . He also mentioned Elton John’s tribute to Princess Diana.
Dr. Khan spoke on the topic of rituals and traditions. He read some part of the book Pride and Prejudice wherein Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth and her reply to him.
Mr. Rajagopalan spoke of how rituals followed during marriages and death ceremonies depict the traditions in any community.
Vasu spoke about how tradition is well depicted in the Movie Fiddler on the Roof. Where the hero is caught between whether he should follow tradition or allow his daughters to marry those they fall in love with. The movie also has a song called tradition. Vasu also spoke about the book to kill a mocking bird in which the main character Atticus Finch takes up a case of a black boy who is wrongly charged with rape of a white girl and how his family has to face the brunt.
Thanks to Lalita for this update
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