Hungryalists and the Beatniks: Malay Roychoudhury Interviewed Part-2

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Hungryalists and Beat Generation : Maitreyee B Chowdhury interviewed by Michael Liminos

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  Posted by Michael Limnios Blues Network on February 4, 2019 at 6:30pm "Throughout the world, poetry and music have been forerunners in challenging the mindsets of people. Irrespective of the genre and language both music and poetry have constantly motivated people into thinking differently, into rising in revolt against mediocre or oppressive thought processes." Maitreyee B Chowdhury: Bangalore Blues Maitreyee B Chowdhury is a Bangalore based poet and writer. She has three books to her credit- ‘Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen: Bengali Cinema’s First Couple’ and ‘Where Even the Present is Ancient: Benaras’. In the year 2013, ‘Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen: Bengali Cinema’s First Couple’ was nominated for the Crossword Book Awards, 2013 (Non Fiction category). Maitreyee is organiser of Bengaluru Poetry Festival, and poetry and fiction editor of The Bangalore Review, a literary journal. Maitreyee’s writings can be...
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The Beats were 'Orientalists' whereas the Hungries were not 'Occidentalists'

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The Beats were, what Edward Said called 'Orientalists'. This may be proved from the photographs of the paupers, lepers, half naked sadhus, lame men in Allen Ginsberg's 'India Journals'. Allen Ginsberg was interested in such photographs only which he sold to Western readers through his book. He met all sorts of Hindu sadhus in India and ultimately adopted Buddhism, changing the sect twice. Same is the case with other Beats who got interested in Buddhism.  One may wonder how come there were always photographers and reporters to display Allen Ginsberg's 'Orientalism' to the Western Press.  When the reporters arrived at his Benares room he took them for photo opportunities. His Blake vision disappeared thereafter. The Hungries, almost all of them, though born in orthodox Hindu families, turned out to be atheists.                                             ...
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Obscenity charges : Lawrence Ferlinghetti was supported by reputed authors. Malay Roychoudhury was not.

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When City Lights published Allen Ginsberg's HOWL, Lawrence Ferlinghetti was implicated in Obscenity case. In support of him writers and critics came forward and as a result therefore, the charges were dismissed and HOWL became a much read poem. It may be noted that writers and poets did not complain against HOWL. But there is a difference between Lawrence Ferlinghetti's ordeal and Malay Roychoudhury's Obscenity trial case. Academicians, writers, newspaper barons had complained against Malay Roychoudhury's poem to the Calcutta Police as a result of which Malay Roychoudhury was arrested. While arresting Malay Roychoudhury, He was hand cuffed and a rope was tied around his waist and he was forced to walk the streets in that condition with seven murderers, dacoits and pick pockets.  Malay was sentenced for a month for writing the poem by Calcutta Court. This is a great difference between Beat Generation and Hungry Generation.               ...
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