Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

I Missed His Book, But I Read His Name -- John Updike

Guest poem submitted by Ashvin K. George:
(Poem #788) I Missed His Book, But I Read His Name
 Though authors are a dreadful clan
 To be avoided if you can,
 I'd like to meet the Indian,
 M. Anantanarayanan.

 I picture him as short and tan.
 We'd meet, perhaps, in Hindustan.
 I'd say, with admirable elan ,
 "Ah, Anantanarayanan --

 I've heard of you. The Times once ran
 A notice on your novel, an
 Unusual tale of God and Man."
 And Anantanarayanan

 Would seat me on a lush divan
 And read his name -- that sumptuous span
 Of 'a's and 'n's more lovely than
 "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan" --

 Aloud to me all day. I plan
 Henceforth to be an ardent fan
 of Anantanarayanan --
 M. Anantanarayanan.
-- John Updike
Somebody told me that John Updike had written a poem on the name
Ananthanarayanan; simply because he liked the sound of it. (I found this on
google: I hope it has been correctly transcribed). It's quite amusing and
well constructed (if you can overlook the fact that his pronunciation of
Anantanarayanan rhymes with fan rather than fun), with an appropriately
comedic rhyme scheme. It's given me a new appreciation of south Indian names
:). I don't know anything about the real Anantanarayanan, but you can buy
his book[1] on Amazon.com.

Ashvin.

[1] "The Silver Pilgrimage," by M. Anantanarayanan. 160 pages. Criterion.
$3.95.

[Minstrels Links]

Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan": poem #30

15 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Ashvin Kurian George said...

I just got an email from the Madhavan, the son of M.Anantanarayanan, who
apparently tracked me down from the minstrels page, and says the
following about his father and the poem:

M. Anantanarayanan died in 1981. He
had been High Court judge and Chief Justice in
Chennai, (Madras) till 1969. I am one of his five
children. Now 68, I am a retired diplomat, living in
Mysore.

and, in another email, continues:

John Updike wrote this poem in 1962 or
thereabouts and it is published in his
"Telegraph Poles" and in his Selected Verse. Yes, my
father knew about the poem, because I think it was
published in "Time magazine" and somebody brought it
to his notice. He was amused and told me of a clerihew
on his name by a friend of his in Cambridge in 1928! "

ah.. the strange things that happen on the internet.

Ashvin

A Thyagaraja said...

Dear Mr George,

I read your comment on the internet just now.

You might be interested to learn that I am the last (3rd) son of Mr M
Anantanarayanan. I am called "Anantanarayanan Thyagaraja" (I was named after
the great Carnatic musician of Thanjavur, where I was born). I am a
theoretical physicist and have lived and worked in the UK for the last 28
years. While I was studying in the US for my PhD, my supervisor at CalTech,
Prof. P.A. Lagerstrom used to introduce me to his friends saying, "this
young man has 11 a's in his name!" To spare my friends such linguistic
contortions, I have always been called "Chippy", a name given to me by my
mother since childhood.

Cheers,

Chippy

(A Thyagaraja)

AIB Internet Banking said...

I bet this guy benefited from being alive before his last name became a silly combination of words resulting in an uncouth joke.

abieuser said...

.I really like the content in this website, are all new things and new lesson for us this very increase knowledge becomes more widely, thank you very much for the information provided.

obat kaligata herbal
obat batuk berdarah tradisional
obat jantung aritmia herbal
obat gondongan herbal
obat penghancur batu ginjal tanpa operasi

Unknown said...

I am very fond of this information termakasih for sharing with us
pengobatan alami usus lengket

Sandrina said...

Hi, nice post. Well what can I say is that these is an interesting and very informative topic. Thanks for sharing your ideas, its not just entertaining but also gives your reader knowledge. Good blogs style too, cheers!

Sandrina said...

Orang tentu tidak asing dengan namanya Catering Jakarta. Sekarang ini usaha Catering Jakarta semakin melonjak, dan peminatnya semakin banyak. Siapa saja orang Jakarta bisa dengan sangat mudah mencari layanan Catering Jakarta yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan masing-masing.
Jasa Catering Jakarta bertujuan menyediakan makanan untuk para tamu di suatu acara khusus atau pertemuan. Dengan banyaknya Catering Jakarta, ada banyak pilihan Catering Jakarta yang menawarkan layanan khusus untuk setiap kesempatan. Banyak perusahaan Catering Jakarta menyediakan layanan khusus, misalnya saja nasi kotak, coffee break, catering prasmanan, menu pondokan atau nasi tumpeng. Dan di Bulan Ramadhan, ada pula layanan catering buka puasa dari beberapa perusahaan Catering Jakarta.
Kebutuhan masyarakat modern yang menginginkan segalanya praktis dan efesien, mendorong Munculnya Catering Jakarta yang semakin banyak saat ini. Layanan Catering Jakarta mungkin mahal, tetapi orang berani membayar mahal asalkan kualitasnya tidak mengecewakan. Memesan Catering Jakarta membantu menghemat waktu dan uang bila memesannya pada Catering Jakarta yang tepat.

Sandrina said...

Menyelenggarakan acara tentunya membutuhkan persiapan ekstra karena akan melibatkan banyak orang. Salah satu bagian penting adalah persiapan konsumsi makanan. Menyiapkan konsumsi makanan untuk banyak orang tentu sulit dikelola sendirian. Sekarang ini orang Jakarta lebih suka memesan Catering Jakarta daripada membuatnya sendiri dengan alasan pertimbangan waktu dan tenaga walaupun memesan Catering Jakarta membutuhkan biaya yang lumayan besar. Layanan Catering Jakarta mungkin mahal, tetapi orang berani membayar mahal asalkan kualitasnya tidak mengecewakan. Memesan Catering Jakarta membantu menghemat waktu dan uang bila memesannya pada Catering Jakarta yang tepat.
Kebutuhan masyarakat modern yang menginginkan segalanya praktis dan efesien, mendorong berdirinya Catering Jakarta yang semakin banyak. Sehingga Kota Jakarta memiliki banyak pilihan Catering Jakarta yang harganya terjangkau. Agar tidak kecewa, sebaiknya jangan asal-asalan dalam urusan memilih Catering Jakarta ini.
Orang tentu tidak asing dengan namanya Catering Jakarta. Sekarang ini usaha Catering Jakarta semakin melonjak, dan peminatnya semakin banyak. Siapa saja orang Jakarta bisa dengan sangat mudah mencari layanan Catering Jakarta yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan masing-masing. Tetapi ketika memilih Catering Jakarta, anggaran selalu menjadi alasan dalam memilih Catering Jakarta yang akan dipilih. Dan pasti akan memilih Catering Jakarta yang paling terjangkau.

Post a Comment