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Silk & Steel: Action heroines of popular literature
Vikas Datta
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Given how monotonous and mundane the daily existence of most of us can be, action in its various cultural manifestations is a pleasure, giving us the vicarious experience of lives lived fast and dangerous. For good measure, the sphere is also one where there has been gender equality right from the very beginning. Religious pantheons -- GrecoRoman, Norse, SumerianBabylonian, Hindu -- all have female divinities who were no less than their male counterparts. The tradition was replicated in folklore, and later, in literature -- though never adequately in real life, till well into our times. But then, our world is far from perfect. In literature, however, there are far fewer double standards. Action heroines, who are usually the polar opposites of the ‘Damsel in Distress’, slowly rose from a rare subversion of what was socially acceptable to become a norm. Figuring in more than the usual woman versus woman fight, aimed mostly at titillating a section of readers (male adolescents mainly, but some older one too), these characters developed from just being the hero’s supporter to becoming someone who, on her own, could face dangerous foes and deadly obstacles -- and win. Action heroines come in various sizes and shapes, ranging from the “Action Fashionista” to the “Action Girlfriend” to the “Warrior Princess”, from the “Cute Bruiser” to the “Pirate Girl”, and from the “Damsel out of Distress” to the “Girls with Guns”, and more. They are the staple of comics, which lend themselves well to their depiction. But though comics have progressed as far as characterisation and plot go, prose still holds an edge in overall portrayal, as it leaves much to the readers’ imagination. Most action heroines appear usually in mythology, fantasy (eg, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series) or science fiction, but they also have their ‘real world’ counterparts. For most, Steig Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander would be the most familiar, though not a prepossessing, being “an unusual kind of sociopath”. Let us now look at some other examples, beginning with the sultry, stunning and superlatively intelligent Modesty Blaise, who, in the words of Jennifer K. Stuller in “Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology”, is the “most complex, sophisticated, skilled and intelligent of all action heroines”. Peter O’Donnell’s raven-haired, high-cheekboned and buxom but fighting fit character has had an enviable cross-media stint. Apart from the long-running (1963-2002) globally syndicated comic strip, Blaise stars in 13 books, at least two films, many radio dramas and a number of pop songs. A TV series, however, didn’t materialise and Quentin Tarantino, who planned to make a film, only ended up showing his “Pulp Fiction” assassin Vincent Vega (John Travolta) reading one of the Modesty novels. There is plenty of action and sex (Modesty even has a distraction combat gambit of entering a room of enemies topless), vivid characters, including thoroughly dastardly villains, and intricate plots -- but so do many others. But what sets it apart is her close, platonic relationship with her aide, Willie Garvin, based on complete openness, understanding and trust -- and so devoted that threatening one will draw the other’s unflinching wrath (as many villains learn). It is this that gives this series its special allure. Thursday Next, the heroine of Jasper Fforde’s uproarious meta-fiction alternate history, comic fantasy series, is another action heroine, who saves both the worlds she inhabits. She also manages to marry the love of her life, saves him from non-existence, and goes on to raise a family. Living in a world where England is now a republic, time travel, cloning and genetic engineering exist (dodos are common pets and Neanderthals have been resurrected), but computers or jet aircraft don’t, a shadowy corporation exerts great influence, and literature is revered -- and has a special police force at its disposal (where she works); she also operates in the “Bookworld”. This is a dimension within literature where all books are “constructed” and also house the characters who, well aware they are in a book, act out their roles when being read but live their own lives the rest of the time. And both are beset by problems -- which our plucky heroine manages to resolve. Nordic noir/Scandinavian noir, which combined crime with trenchant social commentary, emerged with a bang around the 1990s, though it had been around since the 1960s, and it was expected that it would soon boast of a female principal protagonist. Swedish nurse-turned-author Helene Tursten’s Inspector Irene Huss fills the gap -- with a difference. A former jujitsu champion, a mother of twin teenage girls, and the wife of a successful chef, Huss is a Detective Inspector in the Violent Crimes Unit in Sweden’s Goteborg. In her 10-odd appearances, she goes on to solve crimes among the upper crust, inexplicable murders at a hospital, or the massacre of a pastor’s family, confronts skinheads, organised crime, serial killers, human traffickers, and more. What sets this series (published in English 2003-17) apart from others of its genre is that it acknowledges society’s dark underside -- a staple of the modern crime novel -- as a danger that must be confronted. The protagonist is an ordinary person who is a cop, not a crusader, and just wants to improve her world a little bit at a time, instead of revelling in the abyss. And as the bad must be featured along with the good, let’s meet Sheba the She-Wolf from the irrepressible George MacDonald Fraser’s “The Pyrates” (1983), in which he tried to combine every single pirate adventure story -- and succeeded. Full of all possible, tropes stereotypes and deliberate anachronisms, it stars a model classic hero, Captain Benjamin Avery of the Royal Navy, complemented by a bevy of damsels in distress, a charismatic anti-hero, a hilariously malevolent Spanish Viceroy, and six pirate cheftains -- Calico Jack Rackham, Black Bilbo, Firebeard, Happy Dan Pew, Akbar the Terrible and Sheba the She-Wolf.
And it is Sheba who “had clawed her way to power in the Coast fraternity by a piratical genius and ruthless ferocity that had made her the toast of women’s liberationists all along the Main”.
“Six gorgeous feet she was, from the heels of her tight-fitting Italian thigh boots (from Gucci, undoubtedly) to the curling plume of her picture hat, breeched and shirted in crimson silk that clung to her like a skin, lithe and sleek and dangerous as a panther -- Sheba, the black pirate queen, looking like something out of Marvel Comics with her lovely vicious face and voluptuous shape, her dark eyes flashing against her ebony skin, smouldering silently as she unsheathed her dainty rapier with its Cartier hilt, and posed with the contemptuous grace of a burlesque star, indifferent to the ecstatic sighs and groans of her besotted followers.”
Enough said?
Sir Terry Pratchett was known to create strong woman heroines in all his “Discworld” arc of fanatasies, but he created the ultimate action heroine in “Good Omens” (1990), co-authored with Neil Gaiman. “The redhaired woman in the corner of the hotel bar was the most successful war correspondent in the world. She now had a passport in the name of Carmine Zuigiber; and she went where the wars were. Well. More or less. Actually she went where the wars weren’t. She’d already been where the wars were.” We later learn that she is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- it is evident which one. Finally, lets return to comic book superheroines -- but with a difference. Austin Grossman’s novel “Soon I Will Be Invincible” (2007) is an uninhibited but affectionate parody of both the Marvel and the DC universes. Here, we see the superhero group ‘New Champions’ taking on the super-strong, super-villain Dr Impossible (who suffers from Malign Hypercognition Disorder or evil genius syndrome) and is making his 13th attempt to take over the world after yet another jailbreak. There is a problem, however. Their strongest member, and the greatest superhero, CoreFire, is missing. Enjoy the antics of all the superheroes / heroines and the super villains, but keep an eye on Lily, a former group member claiming to be a resident of the future, sent back to avert an ecological disaster. Any more will be spoilers.
(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
First Tamil Bible translation stolen from Thanjavur traced to London museum
The Tamil Nadu Police’s Idol Wing has traced the 300-yearold, world’s first printed Bible translation in Tamil, stolen from the state’s Thanjavur, to the King George III museum in London, officials said on Friday. Sources in the Idol Wing told IANS that the department has commenced the process to bring the Bible back to India. An officer said that the Bible was stolen from Saraswathi Mahal Library in Thanjavur in 2005 and the theft is suspected to be the handiwork of a group of foreigners who had visited the library. The deputy administrator of Serfoji Palace in Thanjavur filed a complaint about the theft with the Thanjavur west police station on October 10, 2005 and a case was registered a case but there was no progress. Subsequently, on October 2017, Saraswathi Mahal Library administrator E. Rajendran lodged a complaint with the idol wing, and a case was registered and investigations launched. After the progress was studied by Director General, Idol Wing, Jayanth K. Murali, a separate team was set up in 2020 and a detailed study of the registry was painstakingly undertaken by the team during the period the Bible went missing and it was found that on October 7, 2005, the library had hosted a group of foreigners. “We found that the visitors had come to India to attend a function to commemorate Bartholomeus Ziegenbalg, the Danish missionary who had printed the Bible,” Murali said. An officer with the Idol Wing then scanned all the websites of libraries and private collectors associated with Ziegenbalg manuscripts, and stumbled upon at King George III museum. They was able to find the stolen first Tamil translation that was printed at a printing press in Tharangambadi in the 17th century, and could match the stolen Bible with the one at the museum. “We hope to retrieve the Bible and restore it to the Saraswathi Mahal Library under the UNESCO treaty soon. The wing has initiated steps to restore the Bible to the library,” the Idol Wing said. The King of Denmark had sent Ziegenbalg to Tamil Nadu and he arrived in Tranquebar (The anglicized name of Tharangambadi), which was then a Danish colony close to Nagapattinam, in 1706. The Protestant missionary translated the New Testament into Tamil in 1715. After his demise, another missionary Schwartz handed over the first copy of the Bible to Tulaji Rajah Serfoji, the then ruler of Tanjavur. The Tamil Nadu government had kept this antique as an exhibit at Saraswathi Mahal Library. The Idol Wing, in its statement, also said: “The value of the Bible is further enhanced as the cover of this antique piece bears the signature of the then King of Tanjavur, Serfoji.”
Heres a guide to mastering ones thoughts for self-discovery and for fulfilling the purpose of life, a true ‘marg darshan’ for this generation and the others to come Incredible as it may seem, the ingredients of a hugely successful life cost nothing at all. In fact, we mass-produce 60,000 of them every day. These are the thoughts that our mind creates. They are responsible for the happiness and distress we experience. They are the precursors of all we do. We grapple with improving our actions, only to find our attempts undone by impure thinking. If we focus on transforming our thoughts instead, incredible results will accrue from a fraction of the efforts. Since all aspects of our life are so strongly linked to our thoughts, we have much to gain by deepening our understanding of them. From Swami Mukundananda, an alumnus of IIT-Delhi and IIMCalcutta, a world-renowned spiritual teacher and the author of the bestselling, “The Science of Mind Management” comes “The Power of Thoughts” (Penguin Random House India) that shares the secrets of harnessing one’s thoughts for greater success, clarity, and peace of mind. Through the book, Mukundananda will teach you about watching your thoughts, directing them, dismantling harmful thought structures, creative thinking, meditation and much more. When you focus on revolutionizing your thoughts - the most fundamental aspect of inner personality - you will discover yourself evolving to divine heights to fulfil the purpose of your life.
“In the first half, I have dealt with thoughts that harm us and techniques for eradicating or sublimating them. In the second half, I have explained strategies to unleash your thinking to live life to the fullest. I hope you have a magnificent enlightening journey as we proceed together through the pages of the book,” the author says. After earning his degrees, Mukundananda chose to renounce a promising corporate career and embrace monkhood. He studied Vedic scriptures with Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj and for almost four decades now, has been sharing his vast knowledge through his books, lectures, and life-transformation programs.
Travel is opening up across the world, and with that, our Instagram feeds are now being blessed with pictures of people exploring new and unique destinations. While most travel influencers flaunt beautiful destinations from across the globe, there is absolutely no dearth of insta-worthy destinations in India. Right from flower-filled landscapes to snowcapped mountain ranges, there is no shortage of beautiful destinations within the country, especially for those who want to make a quick getaway and explore picture-perfect destinations. To help spice up your travel feed, EaseMyTrip shares a list of some of the most beautiful destinations that will make others envious of your Instagram feed:
Munnar, Kerala
Located in the Idukki district of Kerala, Munnar is a scenic destination straight out of a fairytale. This quaint hill station is a romantic paradise nestled in the confluence of three mountain streams. Among the notable attractions, the Neelakurinji, which blooms once every 12 years, is a sight to behold, as these rare and unique flowers present a picturesque blue and purple landscape against the green rolling hills of Munnar. The tea estates, Lakkam waterfalls, and Eravikulam National Park are some must-visit destinations for those who want to explore the unique and magnificent sights of the hill station and add more color to their Instagram feed.
Insta Worthy Location: Neelakurinji Bloom Hills Kutch, Gujarat
Aptly dubbed as the “White Desert of India”, Kutch is a unique destination that exudes a surreal feeling that is unmatched and sure to add a touch of flair to your feed. The vast and expansive white salt desert coupled with a backdrop of a starry sky is sure to have you staring in awe at the pictures that come as a result of it. The Rann Festival in particular is one of the most popular and instagrammable events, as the numerous sights and stalls set up here add a pop of color to an otherwise pristine backdrop. One of the attractions of this festival is also the hot air balloon rides being offered to patrons, giving them a unique bird’s eye view of the vast saline mudflats that are iconic to this region. Kutch is also known for being home to the unique Tent City of Gujarat, whose notable attractions include the extensive lines of white tent houses and stores, as well as the renowned Statue of Unity.
Insta Worthy Location: RaanUtsav (Tent City)
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
Popular for its scenic mountain ranges, coniferous landscapes, and 400-year-old monasteries adorned in colorful Tibetan flags, the quaint town of Tawang is considered to be one of the prime Insta-worthy destinations, not just for those who want to grace their feeds with aesthetic posts, but also for those who want to visit a destination with tremendous natural beauty and history. The town is also home to one of the biggest, and oldest monasteries in India, dating back to 1680. This destination is especially perfect for those who want to enjoy an offbeat vacation, and who want to explore the unique hiking trails such as the Gorichen Peak, which gives travelers a breathtaking 360-degree view of Tawang.
Insta Worthy Location: GadenNamgyalLhatse (Tawang Monastery) Thiksey, Leh
Thiksey in Leh is one destination that is surely set to become an instant favorite, especially with the concept of glamping being at the forefront of the experiences here. While there are only specific months during the year when visitors can enjoy the sights, the pictures clicked here are sure to last a lifetime. The Chamba Camp in particular is a luxury glamping site that offers some of the best backdrops for scenic views. When visiting Thiksey, opt to stay in one of the local luxury tents, which creates a unique wilderness camping experience. October is one of the best times to visit this destination owing to the ThikseyGustor Festival, which gives visitors a unique insight into the ritualistic life of Tibetan people, and the culture that has been upheld for centuries in this region.
Insta Worthy Location: Chamba Camp
KremLiatPrah, Meghalaya
From the dazzling blue pools to stalagmites in gleaming hues, the unique caves nestled in KremLiatPrah make a traveler feel as if they are visiting a destination straight out of a fantasy novel. The KremLiatPrah stands as one of the longest natural caves in South Asia and is interconnected with over 150 caves to awaken the explorer in you. The caves can, however, only be explored along with an experienced cave guide, during the daytime, to truly experience the beauty of this unique destination. Winter is the perfect season to experience the vast stretches of cherry blossoms that bloom during this time of the year. KremLiatPrah is one of the most remote destinations in Meghalaya, which is why pre-booking a bus or a taxi to reach your destination from Shillong is considered to be the best option.
