Renowned author to hold book reading at Del Mar Library Nov. 9
Photo/Jon Clark
There is a remote valley in India with thousand-year-old forests redolent with cedar. It is intersected by streams and waterfalls, and surrounded on all sides by the majestic Himalayan Mountains. It is also a place where myth and culture are “alive and well,” according to renowned poet, playwright, novelist and educator Kamla K. Kapur. Kullu Valley is her home for six months out of the year. It is where she found most of the inspiration for her latest book, Ganesha Goes to Lunch, Classics from Mystic India, 24 mythic tales, retold with a modern twist.
Kapur is settled back in her home in Del Mar with her husband, artist and writer Payson Stevens, after her six-month hiatus in the Kullu Valley of India. Since 1985, when they bought the land, the couple has lived half the year in this remote village and half in Del Mar.
Speaking of her book, she says that myths have always been part of her life. She believes that they provide wisdom and solace for those who wish to live life consciously. As a child growing up in India she imbibed the myths and continued to collect and study them as an adult. She chose the myths for this book based on an “instinctive preference.” These were the stories that spoke to her on some deeper level and transcended thousands of years.
“When I started telling them, I realized that they had a lot to teach me.” Kapur’s insights are evident throughout the book, and the reader goes on the spiritual and philosophical journey along side Hindu Gods such as Ganesha, Shiva, Krishna, Rama and Vishnu.
The collection, published by Mandala, is alive with intricate drawings, and each of the chapters gives a brief introduction to the gods and goddesses.
“Ganesha son of Shiva and Pavati, is the star of Indian mythology. Popular with the masses, he is the big-bellied god with the body of a man and the head of an elephant….Ganesha grants all wishes and removes obstacles to success.”
It is easy to see why Kapur chose the story of this colorful character for the title of the book. Yet the collection is filled with tales of intriguing gods, and playful animals in a reader-friendly format.
Kapur, also well-known for her plays and poetry, published the book in October 2007 and now that she is back in America, will be promoting Ganesha as well as working on some of her other writing projects. As a writer she says, “It’s strange – you are always unconsciously writing all the time. You are plugged in.”
Living in this Kullu valley paradise, she took the first sabbatical of her life. Kapur describes it as life changing. Surrounded by intense nature and her huge Indian family (that she refers to as her clan) Kapur embraced the time to continue her inner journey.?”I simply was – this whole business about being – it transformed me,” she says resting at a local café in Del Mar. “It is really necessary in life to disengage from everything and get in touch with your humanity. I loved it. I don’t think I have ever been this happy in my whole life.”?It is a pleasure to hear and see this woman who represents two cultures, and speaks so respectfully of both. She is at peace equally in her Del Mar gardens as her home in the isolated “valley of the gods.” The diversity of these two cultures seems to have helped her find a balance between the inner and the outer. America, she says, tends to focus more on the outer; they are very success oriented. However, India she describes “is like a huge amniotic sac. You are more in India.”
Kapur plans to do more writing in Del Mar and promote her next book, due out in September 2009, published by Penguin. The subject matter for this book is the great Sufi poet, Rumi.
To see and hear Kamla Kapur read from her book Ganesha Goes to Lunch, drop by the Del Mar Library at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. The tales are fun and entertaining, and Kapur breathes new life into them. ?Perhaps you will even come away a little wiser. As the god Ganesha teaches when he goes to lunch at a greedy king’s and devours everything in sight, we all need somebody to show us a mirror so we can see our real selves. The Del Mar Library is located at 1309 Camino Del Mar, (between 13th St & 14th St), Del Mar, CA 92014; (858) 755-1666.
Posted by kamla Nov 6th 2008
