A Hundred Measures of Time
Page 20
In Oxford, I was nourished by a vibrant set of thinkers and artists: Jim Robinson who ushered in a beautiful Durga on an elephant at exactly the right moment, Peggy Morgan who took me under her wing and showed me a little-known literary Oxford, Gavin Flood for his thought-provoking work on mysticism and Jessica Frazier for her detailed typologies of mystical experience that have done much to enhance my readings of Nammalvar.
In India, the staff of the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) has supported my research since my graduate days. Narendran, librarian of the IFP library, always managed to find me obscure sources. M. Kannan of the Contemporary Tamil Department at the IFP has been a dear friend, intellectual comrade and demanding interlocutor over many years. His friendship is one I cherish.
The people, priests, Araiyars and Kavis at Alvar Tirunagari brought Nammalvar alive for me through their performances and stories. Araiyar Srinivasan and Nathamuni’s beautiful rendition of the Tiruvaymoli during the Markali festival in 2007 enlivened the text. Krishnan Kavi and Anaviyar Srinivasan first introduced me to Kavi Pattu, and rendered them with full-throated vigour on numerous occasions. It is through them that I came to appreciate the Tiruviruttam’s life in performance.
Kamini Mahadevan heard me present a somewhat confused paper on the Tiruviruttam during the very early stages of this project. At that time, she saw something in my work that I couldn’t yet perceive, and she offered Penguin Classics as a home for the still nascent Tiruviruttam. It’s taken almost as long as a hundred measures of time, but her gentle encouragement and stalwart patience through my innumerable delays eventually brought this book to safe harbour. I am grateful to my able navigators at Penguin, who brought to the project much calm professionalism: R. Sivapriya, editor of Penguin Classics, ably guided the work through its many stages; Olivia Fraser granted permission to use her painting Radha (2011) for the cover; Gavin Morris designed an arresting cover that does justice both to the painting and to the Tiruviruttam’s enigmatic contents; Richa Burman read the manuscript with sensitivity and thoroughness, treating the book as one of her own; Aparajita Ninan breathed new life into the faded lines of the images that accompany this book, and recreated for A Hundred Measures of Time the feel of books of a different era; and Rimli Borooah with her keen vision curtailed grammatical crimes of various sorts.
My parents, Jayashree and Krishna Venkatesan, are my twin guiding lights. Their selfless love and abounding wisdom have given me a fearlessness to explore and push my boundaries. Even at my lowest moments, when this book seemed so far away, they never lost faith. I owe them everything. My sister, Aarathi, is a superwoman, an extraordinary example of courage and resolve. Her infectious laughter and unflagging belief in me have lighted my path and lightened my load on many a dreary day. Layne, my Red Earth, my Bright Star, I thank every day for you.
I have been blessed with gifted teachers and scholars who have shared themselves and their knowledge freely. They have taught me with sternness, with passion and compassion, with infinite attention and capacious understanding.
George Hart who first introduced me to Tamil poetry at Berkeley, when I didn’t even know that such a thing as Cankam literature existed. I still recall the first day of my first class with him, when the thick description of an Akananuru poem soaked the air of a small room in Dwinelle. It was that moment that made me want to learn Tamil.
Sri Varadadesikar of the École française d’Extrême-Orient who brought warmth, joy and abiding anubhava to his expositions of Nammalvar. To witness his deeply felt anubhavas of the Divya Prabandham has been a privilege beyond measure. Through all this, he impressed on me, without ever meaning to, how to appreciate commentary for itself and not for what it could teach me about Nammalvar.
Steven Hopkins whose gentle goodness makes me aspire to be more than a good scholar. With a patient eye and unshakeable faith, through all the ups and downs, he has been teacher, mentor and friend. Whether we talk Blake or Keats, Andal or Desika, in poetry or prose, I always come away with more to think on, and moved beyond words.
Indira Viswanathan Peterson—how can I possibly articulate the enormous influence she has had on me? Her staggering, breathtaking command of south Indian literary history and culture has consistently pushed me towards interdisciplinarity. But it is her unstinting, unreserved intellectual giving that has inspired me to turn to her repeatedly for comfort and encouragement.
It is to these wonderful, gifted and generous intellectual giants that I dedicate this book, a humble short-knotted string of words.
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First published by Penguin Books India 2014
Copyright © Archana Venkatesan 2014
Cover: Radha (2011) by Olivia Fraser
The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by her which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-0-143-06637-8
This digital edition published in 2013.
e-ISBN: 978-9-351-18714-1