In my late 50s, there's only regret, for not knowing and reading laureates like Dilip Chitre, Arun Kolatkar. Regret for the fact that you read ABOUT them, but never read them. I started young in school with the staple James Hadley Chase, Harold Robbins, moved to more serious writers, Steinbeck, Erich Maria Remarque, Richard Lewellyn, O'Henry and others. Along the way, there was Khushwant Singh, Manohar Malgonkar, Kamala Markandya. I guess most of us in their fifties will confess to being enamoured with American and English (British) writers, with their inexpensive paperbacks flooding the markets.
Time for pastimes is scarce, habits are set, and paying out Rs.250-500 in hi-society bookshops for books is beyond my reach. Joining poetry-writer's society is beyond most ordinary people, otherwise such forums would have been flooded.
This was an intellectually stimulating interview of the highest order! While Mr Chitre may be right that poetry does have its place even in today's consumerist culture, one wishes that the media [both print and electronic] would give more space to such intellectuals instead of the fly-by-night/Page three jokers who are paraded as "artists" for mass consumption.
Re: A breath of fresh air
by Pat Thakur on Dec 11, 2009 05:33 PM
Sadly, not much responses on the board. Seems the writers are used to posting & re-posting only for shit topics that are Rediff's Forte. Such topics get completely ignored.