Travelogue

Beginning of journey

My journey will begin on the second week of March 2018 and the personalities that I have chosen to meet are some of the famous writers that I have always wanted to meet. I believe that this will be a very interesting and fascinating trip as I will be able to know their interests and work. The three writers that I have chosen to meet are Dante, Kalidas and Visnusarman. I will first go to Italy to meet Dante. He is a famous Italian poet and has written many poems and has contributed much toward the medieval literature. After meeting Dante, I will go to India to meet Kalidas. Kalidas is famous for his works such as ‘Kumarasambhava’ and ‘Raghuvamsha’ are his two epic poems. ‘Malavikagnimitra’, ‘Vikramorvashiya’ and ‘Abhijnana Shakuntala’. After meeting Kalidas I will meet Visnusarman who resides in Kashmir. Kashmir is one of the beautiful places on earth and meeting him there will fulfill my desire to meet such a great personality in such a lovely place.

Literary Encounters

            Dante was born in the year 1265 in Italy. He was born to a family that was involved in the complex Florentine political scene and that had become one of the significant features in his work Inferno years later. The theme of his work are based on imagination and his belief in the perfection of God’s justice (Hawxwell, 2015). The second chosen writer Kalidas lived before the 6th century A.D. about 1400 years ago. Kalidas is also known as Shakespeare of India. Kalidasa period is 4-5the century A.D. He is famous for his great plays and poems. Most of his plays represented the theme of love and duty (Keedus, 2016). The third author is Visnusarman who belonged to Kashmir and his famous works include the fables and tales of animals. Vishnu was the secular author of his times and much of his work is translated in different languages. For instance his famous work “The Panchatantra” had been translated into Middle Persia in 570 CE by Borzuya and into Arabic Language in 750 CE by Persian people. He is also famous for awakening the intelligence of people of his time (Maurer, 2005). The theme of his works revolves around worldly wisdom.

            I would like to meet Dante in a place that is close to nature such as hills, trees, and river. I would like to ask him questions in such a setting where there is sound of a river flowing by and sun is shining on the sky. For Kalidas, I will choose a setting of a theatre. As I have planned to meet Visnusarman in Kashmir so I would probably choose a place where there is fauna and flora and mountains.

            Dante’s work has made a leap into the worlds of psychoanalysis and analytical psychology which is evident through his work Divine Comedy. I will ask Dante about “how his works are connected to the depth of modern therapy and psychoanalysis”? (Hawxwell, 2015). Kalidas examines in succession the six seasons of the Indian year-Summer, Rains, Autumn, Early Winter, Winter, and Spring-describing their effects on nature and on human emotions. So regarding this I will ask Kalidas about his work “ The Seasons” ( The New Nation, 2011) and will inquire what influenced him to write 'The Seasons'?  Similarly, for Visnusarman I would rather ask him about his motivation to write books that became famous for animal fables. Maurer, W. H. (2005). Because of its widespread popularity the Pañcatantra has been endlessly recopied and recast over the centuries, leading to many recensions. Its fables were also variously abbreviated or condensed for incorporation into other works. Therefore, I would inquire about his thoughts to write the fables.

Returning home from journey

            My encounter with all these writers in such beautiful places was indeed very much fascinating and I cherish each moment. After my trip, I wonder how Dante’s universe is a way of reminding ourselves of an internal world which is not our own, as our culture has discarded it. The things that surprise me for Kalidas’s work is how he has combined the beauty of the continuity in flawless Sanskrit which is no doubt unmatched in all times. Regarding Visnusman I am still thinking about his stories that are intermingled in one another and how each character of his story recites a verse of general wisdom or one about a situation like the matter at hand.

            Returning home from journey was very informative for me and now I sometimes think

·         Shall I go to Rome now to visit some ancient Roman writers such as Julius Caeser or Virgil?

·         Should I follow the teachings of Visnusman and apply those in my daily life to become a better person and a better human being?