Dhingra Children’s Classics—there runs a rapid snapshot in my mind…a little fat, stout, square chocolate box like book…generally, in red, yellow, blue, green…the Jugani book stall…the only shop, where one can buy English classics and novels…along with the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drews, Secret Sevens, Dreamland publications and not to forget TinTin (for Tinkle, Chandamama, Amar Chitra Katha, Champak-we had this stall called Arunodoi) in a sleepy place called sivsagar…and am talking of 1990-91. And with it…I relive one of the most fascinating episodes of my childhood—The Last of the Mohicans.
I remember the green cover…the picture of the last Mohican inside a square…below that, the name- James Fenimore Cooper and above Dhingra Children’s Classics. And what I don’t remember is that The Last of the Mohicans is a novel set in the 1700s, with the third year of war between England and France for the possession of the continent as the backdrop. I further don’t remember… the massacre of British troops, women and children by General Montcalm's Indian allies after the British surrender of Fort William Henry to the French on 9th August 1757. And I also don’t remember that the theme of this book was the conflict between civilization, savagery, and nature itself…on one hand, the societal obligation to act in a civilized manner and on the other giving in to the primitive urge to brutally destroy the fellow human beings.
I don’t remember these but I still love the book, actually more than the book I was in love with the name of the book (Children love exotic names you see and those days…I guess, I was barely 10-11, so maybe that justifies why I don’t remember so many things;-)). But I do remember Uncas, Chingachgook, Hawkeye, Munro’s daughters, Major Duncan Hayward and last but not the least Magua (they were there in my mind…but after watching its adaptation, the characters with their names have comfortably taken the backseats with their seat belts on in my frontal…nah…temporal lobe). I would like to suggest… if you guys have sweet memories attached with the book (as in when you were a child)…don’t go for the movie. There is a lot of violence in this movie. The violence is not unnecessary given the backdrop of the film. But the gruesome graphical presentation of violence might just take away the childhood charm. Moreover, it was not Cora and Hawkeye but Alice and Uncas…who were in love in the novel. As a child I had this question in mind and unluckily its still there…why did Alice commit suicide?? I would never forget what Tamnund said ‘…..have I lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans’ (boohoo..he had but I haven’t). But I have successfully lived to relive… a little fat, stout, square chocolate box like book…generally, in red, yellow, blue, green…my very own… Dhingra Children’s Classics.
I remember the green cover…the picture of the last Mohican inside a square…below that, the name- James Fenimore Cooper and above Dhingra Children’s Classics. And what I don’t remember is that The Last of the Mohicans is a novel set in the 1700s, with the third year of war between England and France for the possession of the continent as the backdrop. I further don’t remember… the massacre of British troops, women and children by General Montcalm's Indian allies after the British surrender of Fort William Henry to the French on 9th August 1757. And I also don’t remember that the theme of this book was the conflict between civilization, savagery, and nature itself…on one hand, the societal obligation to act in a civilized manner and on the other giving in to the primitive urge to brutally destroy the fellow human beings.
I don’t remember these but I still love the book, actually more than the book I was in love with the name of the book (Children love exotic names you see and those days…I guess, I was barely 10-11, so maybe that justifies why I don’t remember so many things;-)). But I do remember Uncas, Chingachgook, Hawkeye, Munro’s daughters, Major Duncan Hayward and last but not the least Magua (they were there in my mind…but after watching its adaptation, the characters with their names have comfortably taken the backseats with their seat belts on in my frontal…nah…temporal lobe). I would like to suggest… if you guys have sweet memories attached with the book (as in when you were a child)…don’t go for the movie. There is a lot of violence in this movie. The violence is not unnecessary given the backdrop of the film. But the gruesome graphical presentation of violence might just take away the childhood charm. Moreover, it was not Cora and Hawkeye but Alice and Uncas…who were in love in the novel. As a child I had this question in mind and unluckily its still there…why did Alice commit suicide?? I would never forget what Tamnund said ‘…..have I lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans’ (boohoo..he had but I haven’t). But I have successfully lived to relive… a little fat, stout, square chocolate box like book…generally, in red, yellow, blue, green…my very own… Dhingra Children’s Classics.
2 comments:
Great read... you took me back to the fascinating childhood days when life was an unending adventure...when we could forget everything and lose ourselves in some faraway realm... And I also realised that though life now has a thousand things to worry about and tend to, one can still take some time out and embark on a fantastic journey that once was so familiar and endearing :)
@bluelark- Thanks!!
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