14. La Marioneta, a Farewell Poem
It so happened that noted filmmaker Mrinal Sen received a poem from Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who was seriously ill those days in 1998 (He died on 17 April 2014, much later).
The poem was significant since it was something like a last letter to one’s close friends and well-wishers.
It is said La Marioneta in Spanish, a farewell poem. Hindustan Times made it the lead story of the day. Indeed, it was.
HT reporter Ashis Chakrabarti had translated the poem which I still remember and I quote:
“If I were to be given another life
I would dress simply,
Throwing pretensions to the sun,
And leaving not only my body,
But also, my soul exposed….”
This is how the poem begins and I again quote Ashis, “If for an instant God should forget that I am a puppet and were to give me another piece of life, possibly I wouldn’t say what I think, but I would certainly think all that I say.”
It goes on,
“I would sleep little and dream more,
because I understand that for every minute
that we close our eyes,
we lose sixty seconds of light.”
The poem ends on a cynical note,
“There are so many things
I have learnt from you all.
But finally, they don’t help because,
unfortunately, when they put me in the coffin,
I’ll be dying.”
Marquez had sent this poem to his friends across the world, some 70-odd people.
Mrinal Sen was the only Asian to receive the poem. Sen had first met the celebrated author at the Cannes Film Festival of 1982.
Contrary to what Marquez is known for when he was once asked what he believed in, magical realism or in magic of literature, his reply was, ‘I believe in the magic of real life.’
He narrated a story: “I saw a man who could cure cows suffering from worms in their ears. He said that he cured them with a single prayer, without touching them. He would stand at a certain distance from the cow and start saying his prayer. And the worms, already dead, would fall out of the ears, which would be quite cleaned out. I know this for a fact.
In fact, there was no need for him to even go anywhere. Even if people come to his house and told him about the ailing cow, he would rid it of the worms. I think that it is "magical realism".
Born in the small town of Aracataca, Colombia, on 6 March 1928, Marquez started his career as a journalist and a staff reporter for the Colombian newspaper El Espatador. He also worked as a foreign correspondent in Rome, Paris, Barcelona and New York. He was awarded Noble Prize in 1982.
He is widely translated from the Spanish and well-known for his novels, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’, ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’, ‘The Autumn of the Patriarch’, ‘In Evil Hour’ and ‘Of Love and other Demons’ and collections of short stories ‘Leaf Storm’, ‘No one writes to the Colonel’ and ‘Innocent Erendira’.
These books have been sold in the millions.
But see what the celebrated author himself had to say about his books: “I was once travelling to Geneva by train. It was a twelve-hour journey. I had nothing to read except a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I was taking for some friends. And so, I began to read my own novel. I could not get through the entire books, but read about three or four chapters. I did not like it. While writing it, I was certain that it was the best book in the world. But when I read it on my way to Geneva, I felt very ashamed. I realized that I did not have enough time to write it properly.”
That’s the fire and urge for the perfection that kept the writer going.
When I was editing and publishing my dream project, the literary journal THE SCORIA, I was fortunate enough to publish his long interview which was made available by the noted writer Kalpana Shahani.
Those interested can read as it is included in my book Editor’s Choice Volume I.
(Top Photo Courtesy EL PAIS: The great writer Gabriel García Márquez with the great revolutionary Fidel Castro)