Bringing Grammar To Spirituality With Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam

05/03/22 • 31 min

There is no easy definition of spirituality.

There certainly is no dictionary definition of it.

So I decided to make sport of finding how different people defined spirituality. But every explanation I found was merely another shade of grey. No one really could honestly define it.

I suspect that spirituality should be seen, not as a word but rather, as something that ranges from the metaphysical to the paranormal.

But my guest today, Arundhathi Subramaniam, has embarked on a more difficult mission—writing about it.

As a poet and a writer of succinct prose, she offers us a window into her lasting—and perhaps growing—sense of spirituality.

Her ability to write on this undefinable subject is an impressive skill. A skill that enables her to corral the many wayward strands of spirituality into something we can all understand—introspection.

In this episode I also dive into something else that defies me. What’s poetry?

Arundhathi Subramaniam recites three of her poems in this episode.
ABOUT ARUNDHATHI SUBRAMANIAM
Described as "one of the finest poets writing in India today" (The Hindu, 2010) Arundhathi Subramaniam is the award-winning author of thirteen books of poetry and prose. Her most recent volume of poems, Love Without a Story was described as "a breathtaking and heartwarming book" (Poetry Book Society Bulletin), "a unique poet of our times...in a league all by herself" (Indian Literature).
Widely translated and anthologised, her book, When God is a Traveller, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2020.
She is the recipient of various awards and fellowships, including the inaugural Khushwant Singh Prize, the Raza Award for Poetry, the Zee Women’s Award for Literature, the International Piero Bigongiari Prize in Italy, the Zee Indian Women Award for Literature, the Mystic Kalinga award, among others. She has written extensively on culture and spirituality, and has worked over the years as poetry editor, cultural curator and critic.
As prose writer, her books include the book of essays, Women Who Wear Only Themselves, the bestselling biography of a contemporary mystic.
Link to Arundhathi Subramaniam on Amazon: https://amzn.to/38LNLEt
WHAT'S THAT WORD?! - PORTMANTEAU
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in the segment "What's That Word?", where they discuss the the word "portmanteau" and its Humpty Dumpty origins.

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW?
If you have a word, expression or phrase you would like to know more about, we would love to have you join us live on the show. You can reach out to us by mail: [email protected] or simply, [email protected].
Or, you can visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bangaloreliterarysociety.
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Cover pic of Arundhati Subramaniam: Meetesh Taneja

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There is no easy definition of spirituality.

There certainly is no dictionary definition of it.

So I decided to make sport of finding how different people defined spirituality. But every explanation I found was merely another shade of grey. No one really could honestly define it.

I suspect that spirituality should be seen, not as a word but rather, as something that ranges from the metaphysical to the paranormal.

But my guest today, Arundhathi Subramaniam, has embarked on a more difficult mission—writing about it.

As a poet and a writer of succinct prose, she offers us a window into her lasting—and perhaps growing—sense of spirituality.

In this episode I also dive into something else that defies me. What’s poetry?

Cover pic of Arundhati Subramaniam: Meetesh Taneja

Previous Episode

Factors And Fibonacci On The Golden Road With William Dalrymple

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I will admit that until I had read William Dalrymple, I knew little of the history of Delhi, which is inextricable from the history of India.

Although I lived in New Delhi for eight years, all I ever knew about the history of India—my country—was what was taught to me by middle school history teachers. They regurgitated dry passages from textbooks.

There was no romance in the way we were taught history.

So when I lived in Delhi—right in the heart of visible history with crumbling moments and all—I couldn’t get past those apathetic and uncurious history text books.

And then I left Delhi to move to Bangalore.
And then Dalrymple happened. In the decades that he unravelled Delhi for me, it morphed from a city that I only knew as too expensive for my modest salary, to a city that hell, had djinns in it. Djinns with a D.

The more I listened to William Dalrymple as I interviewed him today, the more I appreciated his sentient feel for history. A feeling that makes humans out of historical personalities.

For this reason probably, when I first read City of Djinns, I will confess to an inexplicable sense of envy—as if I should and could have written that book...an “I wish I had said that” feeling.

But I had no such flights of fancy reading everything else he has written, most recently, Anarchy, an account of the East India Company and what happens when there is no separation between...er...merch and state.

Dalrymple’s prose is compelling and direct and that makes his books that much more engaging.

Let’s find out what else makes him one of the most respected writers of the history of India and the entire region of its historical influence.

So it is my privilege to welcome William Dalrymple to The Literary City.
REFERENCES:
William Dalrymple: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dalrymple_(historian)
Bruce Chatwin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Chatwin
Buy The Company Quartet: https://amzn.to/3K2Z7AV
Buy William Dalrymple (all books): https://amzn.to/3Owfbyo
Buy Hobson Jobson: https://amzn.to/3rHupa7
Buy In Patagonia: https://amzn.to/3KcEkL4
Shengdu: Xanadu
"Gone to Shengdu": This is to paraphrase the note that Bruce Chatwin allegedly left for his boss that read, "Gone to Patagonia".
WHAT'S THAT WORD?! - HOBSON JOBSON
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in the segment "What's That Word?", where they discuss the the book Hobson-Jobson and how it came to be.

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW?
If you have a word, expression or phrase you would like to know more about, we would love to have you join us live on the show. You can reach out to us by mail: [email protected] or simply, [email protected].
Or, you can visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bangaloreliterarysociety.
Or you can go to our Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/explocityblr/.
If your word or phrase is selected, we will call you.
Join our Facebook group, Bangalore Literary Society. It does not matter if you are not in Bangalore. This group is for anyone interested in language and words.

Next Episode

Finding The Indian Voice In English Literature With Poile Sengupta

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In the late 80s, the Indian voice in English literature started to be heard in a meaningful way.

But in the early days, the writing was criticized as being imitative of colonial English, swollen and bloated, and not keeping up with contemporary usage.

Either that, or it swung the other way to bring a self-referential rebellion against colonialism with cringe-worthy caricatures of Indian English. While this Quixotic legacy—of grammar, structure and the idiom being the casualty of a war without an enemy—hasn’t entirely left us.

But as a wise man never ever said, through this fustian thicket Indian voices peeped. New authors threw away the sola topee, and started to write in English, the narrative being Indian; with neither apology nor explanation for parlance.

My guest today, Poile Sengupta is one of the first such writers. From her debut in the mid-80s, she has widely and well...written prose, poetry and plays.

While Poile is both respected and reputable, I believe she has not received all the accolade she deserves...for her prose, poetry, being a playwright and above all, for being a pathfinder...kicking the doors open...for younger Indian writers to walk into a better future.

Let’s talk to Poile now and deep dive into her relationship with the English language.
ABOUT POILE SENGUPTA
Poile Sengupta is a playwright, poet, novelist and writer for children and adults. Her full length plays include Mangalam (1993), Inner Laws (1994), A Pretty Business (1995), Keats was a Tuber (1996), Collages (1998), Alipha and Thus Spake Shoorpanakha, So Said Shakuni (2001) and Samara’s Song (2007). Her plays have been performed and read across India and also abroad.
Her earlier books include The Exquisite Balance, The Way to My Friend’s House, Story of the Road, How the Path Grew - all from CBT, and Waterflowers by Scholastic. Her later work includes Role Call and Role Call Again, 2003, by Rupa and Co., Vikram and Vetal, 2005, Good Heavens!, 2006 and Vikramaditya’s Throne, 2007, from Puffin. Role Call has been translated and published in Bhasa Indonesia, while Vikram and Vetal has been translated and published in French. A picture book Four by Tulika, came out in 2018, and a chapter book A Time for Ebby, was published in September 2021, by Minmini Reads, an imprint of Karadi Tales, Chennai.
Poile Sengupta’s first novel for grown-ups, Inga was published in 2014 by Westland.

Link to buy A Time For Ebby: https://amzn.to/3FtDFnS
WHAT'S THAT WORD?! - HUSBAND
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in the segment "What's That Word?", where they discuss the the words "husband and husbandry".