Having made an ardent promise to myself and my readers that I would henceforth cease to be a drop out and would spend time writing a blog a day, I have failed to keep my word. It seems these resolutions of mine get recorded on liquid surfaces that erase them the moment they are recorded. Anyway, here is a post that I hope will interest my readers.
I am currently grappling with three different topics that interest me. One the literary theory of Saussure, Lacan, Barthes and others. I am doggedly reading the translations of the works of these writers even though I need multiple readings to make sense of them. Finally, I am getting a glimmer of what they are talking about and am getting immensely interested in what they have to say. I am also attempting to apply their theories to literary works! A challenging and interesting task. Very intellectual!
I am also reading a wonderful novel by a Japanese writer in English called Kazuo Ishiguro called The Remains of the day. The writer has wonderfully captured the essence of what “buttlership” (if you forgive my coining of this word) implies. A copy of the novel is available online (in docstoc or is it scribd?–I am not sure). Truly relaxing!
I am also working out the nuances of contract law and bombarding myself with topics like “invitation to treat”, “postal delay in contract law” and so on and so forth till I am getting a little cross eyed with the effort. Absolutely legal! Keeps my mind live and kicking.
Of course, I cannot complain that my life is drab and dull and lacks variety. Will perhaps translate the results of all my efforts into little articles that may be of interest to you all?
Why do I do all this? I like being an intellectual. In fact I revel in it. What comes out of it? A lot of writing practice and of course a number of new creative ideas for books that I plan to write sometime in the future (only the future seems very dimly distant at the moment). Some of the work may also find a way into literature journals and law journals and law journals.
Around 6000 employees of a government organization in country X (you may guess) have been drawing their salaries regularly every month, even though they never reported for duty. This news naturally became a matter of concern and an enquiry was made into the rate of absenteeism and why salaries were disbursed even though thes employees had not reported for work.
All our lives we have been taught to lay aside something for the rainy day. We have been shown examples of how the ant saves up while the grasshopper whiles away the time and regrets his laziness. Yet, if you look around you those who save up money meticulously are the ones who seem to lose out all the time. The ones who do not save up for the rainy day seem to do very well and seem to enjoy what life has to offer them! Are we fools?
Who says we should not put old wine in new bottles? The wine tastes just as sweet! The epics of yore, are still relevant, meaningful and interesting to readers of today. While the ancient language may make the reading of the content difficult, the story retold in modern tongues, makes fascinating reading. With the Internet connecting the world, mythological stories and content from round the world are available at the click of a button. So it should not be surprising to find an Indian retelling an American legend or a Russian talking about African tales! What is it that makes these stories evergreen?
