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Elena Ferrante's attitude to work and life is the actual winner, even if it is her latest book that has been longlisted for the Man Booker prize.
Elena Ferrante’s attitude to work and life is the actual winner, even if it is her latest book that has been longlisted for the Man Booker prize.
I don’t know Elena Ferrante. I read about her being a best selling author (Her books have sold nearly two million copies worldwide). I have not read any of the four books written by her forming a ‘Neopolitan Series’. The last of the four novels – The Story of the Lost Child – figures in the long list of The Man Booker International Prize, and is expected to be selected the winner.
This could be life story of many promising authors. Not really.
What sets this writer apart from most of us is her hidden identity. Nobody knows who she/he is. Those who know are not telling yet.
Petracco, the British Publisher of Ferrante’s work said, “She is happy to be successful but as far as I can tell, it is not that important to her. She’s a writer who needs to write in order to live. Having her books read is the most important thing.” (Petracco has only communicated to her via email)
We don’t know about tomorrow – her identity might be revealed. I might not like what she writes. People will have different opinions ranging from marketing gimmicks to identity issues about her reasons to stay mysteriously hidden.
As of today, there are three loud and clear lessons etched in the three sentences of her works’ publisher Petracco – lessons that we can make our own to better our lives.
Success is merely a byproduct of actions that I take to live. Success is a bonus which gives happiness but not meaning to my life.
The general symptoms of success – fame and riches are deeply desired by all of us. Money that her books make must be reaching her surely but not giving too much importance to that, and just living the moments of glory is defining success beautifully.
It is important because it gives deep respect to success by keeping it personal. My success is personal. I don’t allow others to decide whether I am successful or not. I give importance to what I consider as successful. Public opinion, public approval, public applause, celebrity rankings are not a part of it. Success is incidental, I am not.
This could be the most passionate sentence from an author. I write, therefore I am. Extrapolate this to anything you love doing.
A young man went to Socrates and asked him, “What is the secret sauce to succeed?” Socrates told him to go and take a dip at the river nearby. When he came back, Socrates told him to come the next day. Next day, Socrates told him to do the same. It continued for a week. Finally, the young man lost it.
Socrates told him to go to the river bank and wait for him. They both entered the water together. “Take a dip,” Socrates told him. As soon as the young man went in, Socrates pushed his head in water with all his might, not allowing him to come out. The young man kept trying and struggled very hard to overpower Socrates. He was stunned by Socrates’ behavior.
“This is the secret sauce – Be ready to give your everything with full intensity, the way you did right now.” The deepest urge to create, the most painful longing to do something resembles the acute pain felt while naturally delivering a child. Be a passionate parent, be a passionate professional doer – do anything but do it as if you can’t live without it.
Books are meant to be read. If the number of readers is big, it is great but the number of readers do not define my book writing. I don’t write based on the number of readers reading it.
We all live, work, perform our duties on the size of life stage provided to us. We make our journeys from the stations we are handed over by a stroke of chance and competence. The scope of our work, reach of what we do is a result of many controllable and uncontrollable factors.
My work should have purpose for some. If not for others, at least for me. The number of people I can influence doesn’t decide the quality and quantity of my work. Also, my work is my identity for professional purposes. My face is not.
Thank You Elena Ferrante. These lessons in integrity are brilliant.
We might recognize you tomorrow. Your disguise might not last but the lessons will.
Image source: elenaferrante.com
A Ph.D. and outstanding educationist with 16 years of experience as Founder/Director of reputed institutes of management with numerous publications, research presentations and lectures/conferences on varied issues on education and development; Founded “ read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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