An Introduction to Geoffery Chaucer

If it's been a while since you visited this blog, it may be a good idea to take another look at my last post. For a Marxist view of Geoffery Chaucer's work, it is essential to interpret it against the background of the Italian Renaissance.

Here's a very brief recap:
1) Aristocracy/nobility declined
2) Trade flourished throughout Europe
3) An educated middle class (bourgeois) arose
4) Feudal system ended with the Peasant's revolt (1381)
5) Spirit of 'humanism' prevailed through Europe
6) Natural and man-made calamities occoured
7) Labour was short and resources surplus
8) Faith in the Roman Catholic Church and even the Bible
7) Printing Press of Venice provided easier access to literature
8) Classical authors were re-read and reinterpreted
9) The new ideas of the Renaissance were widely accepted
10) Even the the ruling classes and aristocracy adopted the new ideals


Geoffery Chaucer (1343 - 25 Oct 1400) is often called the father of English Literature. He broke a lot of rules by choosing to write in English rather than French, which was, till the 14th century, the official language of poetry. Chaucer was the first poet to establish the legitimacy of vernacular English as a language of poetry. In this note, my purpose will to give you a brief overview of his life and times, highlighting his contribution to English Literature, especially through his best known work 'The Canterbury Tales'.


Records show that Chaucer was born in 1343 to a family of merchants. Hence, he belonged to the rising middle-class. He began his career as a page and went on to become a courtier, diplomat and civil servant. Chaucer was first buried in Westminster Abbey in London (1399). In 1556, his remains were moved and he became the first writer to have a tomb in the area now known as Poet's corner.


D.S. Brewer describes Chaucer thus:

"He was the new man, the literate layman who was not a clerk, the courtier who was not a knight; he was not poor (like Langland) but not rich; a salaried man, not landed gentry (like Gower); he was not even a merchant like his father and grandfather"


Chaucer's magnum opus is The Canterbury Tales, which is a collection of stories told by fictional pilgrims on the way to the Canterbury Cathedral. It is unfortunate that Chaucer was unable to complete this work. However, it's importance for students of literature is undeniable. The characters come from different social classes and are renowned for their naturalism. It is absolutely marvelous how well he was able to recreate the different speech and mannerisms of characters based on their socio-cultural background. It is a skill authors till date attempt to emulate, though not all succeed. As a poet, satirist and story teller, Chaucer proved to be a source of tremendous influence and inspiration for generations.


Another point worthy of note, is that Chaucer's character, the Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales, is perhaps the first resonance of the modern independent woman. She works, she thinks and she talks. She looks men in the eye, and breaks all their rules and preconceived notions. She is a wilful strong woman who lives on her own terms. Yet, she remains a character in the hands of a male author of the 14th century. When I discuss The Canterbury Tales as a part of British Poetry, I'd highlight both feminist and anti-feminist arguments in regards to this character.


Chaucer is famous for his innovation of the metrical scheme. He wrote in continental accentual-syllabic meter, invented the rhyme royal and was one of the first English poets to use the five-stress line (mostly in rhyming couplets, which became one of the standard poetic forms in English). His language is difficult to understand because the great vowel shift did not occour till after his death. However, he used several common English words and phrases that had never before been seen fit for poetry. He contributed to the development and standardization of Middle English.


I shall elaborate on the terms used in the last paragraph when I begin my section on British Poetry. At this time, it is enough to be able to grasp how significant Geoffery Chaucer and The Caterbury Tales are to English Literature.


Chronological list of Chaucer's long works:

• Translation of Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose)
• The Book of the Duchess
• The House of Fame
• Anelida and Arcite
• Parlement of Foules
• Translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy as Boece
• Troilus and Criseyde
• The Legend of Good Women
• The Canterbury Tales
• Treatise on the Astrolabe

He also wrote several short poems, namely:

• An ABC
• Chaucers Wordes Unto Adam, His Owne Scriveyn
• The Complaint Unto Pity
• The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse
• The Complaint of Mars
• The Complaint of Venus
• A Complaint to His Lady
• The Former Age
• Fortune
• Gentilesse
• Lak of Steadfastnesse
• Lenvoy de Chaucer a Scogan
• Lenvoy de Chaucer a Bukton
• Proverbs
• To Rosemounde
• Truth
• Womanly Noblesse

Note: This is only an introduction to this poet. I will explore his work, The Canterbury Tales, in detail when I begin the section on British Poetry.

The Italian Renaissance

Usually when someone uses the term Renaissance, without adding 'Carolingian' or 'Twelfth century' before it, they refer to the cultural and ideological movement that began in Italy towards the end of the 14th century, peaked in the 15th, and culminated in about 1600.


Italian Renaissance began in Tuscany, centred around Florence and Siena, impacted Venice and later Rome, and kickstarted the Northern Renaissance and the English Renaissance. The later two in turn brought the rest of Europe under the ideas and ideals of the movement.


Background:

By the late Middle Ages, Northern Italy had become the focal point of European trade. Florence became one of the wealthiest cities mainly due to its woolen textile production (if you haven't read it yet, remember this part when reading about the profession of the protagonist in Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale).


After the Fall of Constantinople (capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire - 1453), a flood of refugee Greek scholars from the millenium-old Byzantine Empire emigrated into Florence and Venice. With them, came new linguistic studies in Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman Latin classics, and thence, were planted the seeds of Renaissance.


Ancient Roman works of Cicero, Horace, Sallust, Virgil etc., and Ancient Greek writings of Aristotle, Homer and Plato were revived. The Ancient texts were translated and studied extensively, in the original, for the first time since 4th century. Many authors attempted to integrate the methods and styles of the classics into their own work.


Characteristics of the Renaissance:


1) With the independence of cities and states (free imperial cities discussed in the previous post), the nobility declined in Europe.


2) Trade flourished and a new bourgeois mercantile governing middle-class emerged. The class included bankers, merchants and skilled artisans.


3) With the rise of cities, and the decline of the aristocrats, the feudal system ended. After the Peasants Revolt (in 1381, against Manorial courts, poor payment goods and the imposition of the poll tax), labour too joined the lower rungs of the rising middle-class.


4) A sense of security rose and laws were framed to protect the common man. Man became the point of focus. He was seen as inherently good, and a rational being capable of thought and decision. This was the spirit of Renaissance Humanism, a theory forwarded by Niccolo Petrarch. It was an optimistic philosophy that contradicted the Christian view of man as the original sinner seeking redemption. The new theory forced scholars to probe into the concept of reality and history, by going back to ancient literature, and looking beyond what was preached by the Roman Catholic Church.


5) Several natural and man-made calamities occoured. Repeated famines, low agricultural productivity, a series of wars between Milan and Florence, the Hundered Years War between England and France, the collapse of two largest Florentine banks, and the Black Death or the Black Plague ransacked the Europe landscape. The results were contradictory in their own right: a shortage of labour, and surplus money.


7) Italian authors began to write in their native vernacular language rather than Latin, French or Provencal.


8) When Aldus Manutius began the printing press in Venice, literary works in the Italian language joined the Latin Greek and Roman classics.


When the Nobility lost its power and the Church proved futile in providing relief from the plague, people began to question their authority. Even the Bible was questioned. Renaissance brought curiosity, questioning and reasoning. Socio-economic changes had been an ongoing process since the high middle ages. Renaissance, became the age of cultural and ideological development.


The Renaissance ideal was fully adopted by the ruling classes and the aristocracy towards the end of the 15th century. Hitherto artists had been given little prestige and recognition. But now, they could wield influence and charge great fee. As they accumulated wealth, they too became a part of the aristocracy.


In 1542, the Sacred Congregation of the Inquisition was formed. In a few years, the Roman Catholic Church issued the Index Librorum Prohibitorium (List of Prohibited Books) banning a number of Renaissance works, which they felt were immoral or theologically erroneous. With the invasion of France in 1494, began the Italian wars, which resulted in the near-end of the reign of Papacy (the largest patron of Renaissance art and architecture). In the wake of these events, Italian Renaissance faded, and a number of Italy's greatest artists (including Leonardo da Vinci) chose to emigrate to France and work with the Northern Renaissance. Thus, the Italian Renaissance gave us some great philosophers, painters, architects and authors till about mid 16th century. Around 1520, began the period of Mannerism, which culminated with the arrival of Baroque around 1600.



The following link gives names of the authors who were banned by the Roman Catholic Church:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum#Some_notable_writers_with_works_on_the_Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum



Among the famous authors of Renaissance, the following are noteworthy:

• Dante (Divine Comedy: arguably a legacy of the Medieval era)





• Francesco Petrarch (Canzoniere: a collection of love sonnets in Italian vernacular dedicated to his unrequited love Laura. The Petrarchan sonnet is the base of the Shakespearean sonnet form. Concept to be taken up when discussing British Poetry)





• Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (Oration on the Dignity of Man)





• Erasmus (In Praise of Folly)





• Sir Thomas More (Utopia)





• Boccaccio (On Famous Women, and Decameron. The later was a collection of 100 stories told over 1o nights, by 10 storytellers who have fled to the outskirts of Florence to excape the Black Plague. Chaucer, Shakespeare and multiple other authors were inspired by this technique of 'frame tale' )





• Niccolo Machiavelli (Discourses on Livy, Florentine Histories, and The Prince)





• Castiglione (The Book of the Courtier)





• Montaigne (Essais)





• Cervantes (Don Quixote)





• Luis de Camoes (The Lusiads)





• Geoffery Chaucer





• William Shakespeare

The next post will be a short note: a brief introduction to Chaucer and Shakespeare. These authors would be detailed under the British Poetry section later.

Earliest Renaissance

The term 'Renaissance' comes from the French word Renaissance (meaning "rebirth"), and from the Italian word Rinascimento (meaning "reborn"). In literature, the term applies to the rediscovery and renewed exploration of the Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman Latin texts. In literary history, there have been three acknowledged periods of Renaissance:

• Carolingian Renaissance (Late 8th and 9th centuries)
• Twelfth Century Renaissance (12th and 13th centuries)
• Italian Renaissance (14th century to approximately 1600)

Carolingian Renaissance:

Late 8th century saw western Europe ruled by the Carolingians and a lack of literate people. All parish priests did not possess the skill to read and interpret the Vulgate Bible. It was difficult to find people educated enough to work as court scribes. An additional problem was that the vulgar Latin of the later Western Roman Empire had begun to diverge into the regional dialects. Dialects were thus becoming mutually unintelligible and frequently prevented communication between people from different regions of Europe. An intellectual and cultural revival, a Renaissance, became necessary.



The Carolingian ruler Charlemagne ordered the creation of certain schools to attract scholars. With time, a curriculum was designed for the schools. A standardized version of Latin (later called Medieval Latin) was developed, which allowed new words to be coined while retaining the grammatical rules of Classical Latin. This was accompanied by an increase in literature, writing, arts, architecture, jurisprudence, liturgical and scriptual studies.



Unfortunately, I haven't read any books from this period yet, so I wouldn't be able to comment on them. But the following links should be helpful in case you wish to understand the literature of this period in detail. Remember to look for information about the late 8th and following 9th century only:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Medieval_literature

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Medieval_literature

Twelfth Century Renaissance:

The Carolingian Empire broke down in the late 9th century. The Muslims, Vikings, Slavs and Magyars began venturing into the territory of the Byzantine empire. The Arabs occupied The Holy Land. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a part of the high middle ages. Several social, political and economic changes occured in Europe during this time. Towns, which were previously ruled by the various princes, claimed the right to become free imperial cities. This claim was based on their significance to sea routes of trade, and the resultant wealth accumulated. Their relative independence alongwith the success of the Muslim Armies put a lot of pressure on the already deteriorating Eastern Orthodox Byzantine empire. Some Vikings, Slavs and Magyars were later Christianized, but this large class of trained armed warriors was eager to find an outlet for its skills. When territorial expansion became less attractive for large segments of the nobility, they, and the Christianized mob, turned their attention to the Muslim, Turkish and Islamic invaders.

The Crusades were launched under a pretext. The emperor wanted to appeal to the Pope for mercenaries. He wanted help to resist the Muslim invasion into the Byzantine Empire. In reality, the Crusades were a series of millitary attacks and riots launched by the Christian Europe against almost any group that did not follow Christianity. Mobs of furious Christians went through Europe fighting the Muslims, massacring Jews, converting pagan Slavs and maltreating the schismatic Orthodox Christians of the East (Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians). Joined by the Christianized warriors, the fury raged against the Mongols, Cathars, Hussites and any other political enemies of the Pope. While the original goal of the Crusaders had been the recapturing of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule, the end result was unsurpassed violence.

The Crusades were the first means of close contact between the Europeans and the Islamic rulers. In the 13th century, Marco Polo's book describing his journey, via the Silk Road into China, left the Europeans even more aware of the East. He was followed by numerous Christian missionaries who brought back information about Islamic philosophy, science and technology. At the time, the Islamic know-how in these fields was more advanced than the European. So, the Europeans once again, turned to the classics to rediscover science, philosophy, poetry, law, scripture etc. in the works of antiquity. Hence, the twelfth century went through another Renaissance.

In literature, religious, secular and allegoric writing still dominated the realm. Anonymity is common to a significant number of works of the era. Authors and poets were over-awed by the classical writers and the church fathers. They re-told and embellished stories they heard, rather than inventing new ones. Since nothing new was contributed, the author's identity was deemed unnecessary. A number of people chose to write in their respective vernaculars. Most of the literature in this period was based on older oral traditions.

Some of the vernacular texts of this period were: Old English Beowulf (anonymous Anglo Saxon author), Middle High German Nibelungenlied (anonymous), the Medieval Greek Digenis Acritas (anonymous Greek author) and Old French Chanson de Roland (anonymous).

What I found particularly interesting was that some women began writing in this era. The reflections on courtly love and society by Marie de France and Christine de Pizan, provide glimpses into the cultural aspects of medieval society. Women wrote influential texts in the secular realm as well. Much of what is known about women in the Middle Ages is known from the works of nuns such as Clare of Assisi, Bridget of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena. Frequently, however, the religious perspectives of women were termed unorthodox by those in power. The mystical visions of authors like Julian of Norwich and Hildegard of Bingen provide an insight into a part of the medieval experience less comfortable for the institutions that ruled Europe back then.

Notable work by women writers of the period are: Alexiad (Anna Comnena), The Book of the City of Ladies (Catherine de Pizan), The Lais of Marie de France (Marie de France) etc.



Other significant texts were: Cantigas de Santa Maria (Galician authors), David of Sassoun (anonymous Armenian author), Cato (Distichs of Cato: Dionysius Cato), The Owl and the Nightingale (anonymous), Book of the Civilized Man (Daniel of Beccles), Psychomachia (Battle of Souls: By Aurelius Clemens Prudentius. First and most influential "pure" medieval allegory of the time), Roman de la Rose (Guillaume de Lorris), Mabinogion (anonymous), Golden Legend (By Jacobus de Voragine or Jacopo da Varagine. It has been said that this book was once read more often than the Bible), Dies Irae (meaning Day of Wrath: Thomas of Celano) and Stabat Mater (short for Stabat Mater Dolorosa or The Sorrowful Mother Was Standing: Jacopone da Todi)

Dies Irae describes the day of judgement and the last trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered whereas the unsaved would be cast into eternal flames. Stabat Mater Dolorosa mediates on the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ's mother, during his crucifixion. If possible, watch The Passion of Christ by Mel Gibson. (It's almost a video version of this hymn). Following are the English translations of these two poems.

William Josiah Irons' translation of Dies Irae:

Day of wrath! O day of mourning!

See fulfilled the prophets' warning,

Heaven and earth in ashes burning!

Oh what fear man's bosom rendeth,

when from heaven the Judge descendeth,

on whose sentence all dependeth.

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth;

through earth's sepulchers it ringeth;

all before the throne it bringeth.

Death is struck, and nature quaking,

all creation is awaking,

to its Judge an answer making.

Lo! the book, exactly worded,

wherein all hath been recorded:

thence shall judgment be awarded.

When the Judge his seat attaineth,

and each hidden deed arraigneth,

nothing unavenged remaineth.

What shall I, frail man, be pleading?

Who for me be interceding,

when the just are mercy needing?

King of Majesty tremendous,

who dost free salvation send us,

Fount of pity, then befriend us!

Think, good Jesus, my salvation

cost thy wondrous Incarnation;

leave me not to reprobation!

Faint and weary, thou hast sought me,

on the cross of suffering bought me.

shall such grace be vainly brought me?

Righteous Judge! for sin's pollution

grant thy gift of absolution,

ere the day of retribution.

Guilty, now I pour my moaning,

all my shame with anguish owning;

spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!

Thou the sinful woman savedst;

thou the dying thief forgavest;

and to me a hope vouchsafest.

Worthless are my prayers and sighing,

yet, good Lord, in grace complying,

rescue me from fires undying!

With thy favored sheep O place me;

nor among the goats abase me;

but to thy right hand upraise me.

While the wicked are confounded,

doomed to flames of woe unbounded

call me with thy saints surrounded.

Low I kneel, with heart submission,

see, like ashes, my contrition;

help me in my last condition.

Ah! that day of tears and mourning!

From the dust of earth returning

man for judgment must prepare him;

Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!

Lord, all pitying, Jesus blest,

grant them thine eternal rest. Amen.

doxology:

O God of majesty

nourishing light of the Trinity

join us with the blessed. Amen.

English translation of Stabat Mater Dolorosa:

At the Cross her station keeping,

stood the mournful Mother weeping,

close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,

all His bitter anguish bearing,

now at length the sword has passed.

O how sad and sore distressed

was that Mother, highly blest,

of the sole-begotten One.

Christ above in torment hangs,

she beneath beholds the pangs

of her dying glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,

whelmed in miseries so deep,

Christ's dear Mother to behold?

By the Cross with thee to stay,

there with thee to weep and pray,

is all I ask of thee to give.

For the sins of His own nation,

She saw Jesus wracked with torment,

All with scourges rent:

She beheld her tender Child,

Saw Him hang in desolation,

Till His spirit forth He sent.

Can the human heart refrain

from partaking in her pain,

in that Mother's pain untold?

O thou Mother! fount of love!

Touch my spirit from above,

make my heart with thine accord:

Make me feel as thou hast felt;

make my soul to glow and melt

with the love of Christ my Lord.

Holy Mother! pierce me through,

in my heart each wound renew

of my Savior crucified:

Let me share with thee His pain,

who for all my sins was slain,

who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee,

mourning Him who mourned for me,

all the days that I may live:

Let me, to my latest breath,

in my body bear the death

of that dying Son of thine.

Virgin of all virgins blest!,

Listen to my fond request:

let me share thy grief divine;

Wounded with His every wound,

steep my soul till it hath swooned,

in His very Blood away;

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,

lest in flames I burn and die,

in His awful Judgment Day.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,

by Thy Mother my defense,

by Thy Cross my victory;

When my body dies,

let my soul be granted

the glory of Paradise. Amen.

These last two poems are considered to be the most powerful hymns of their time. Did they move you at all? You've read them in English. Now try and imagine the impact of such hymns in their native language, during the high middle ages, amidst the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, caught in the wave of Renaissance and the so-called pious, Christian socio-religious upheaval! Once you put them in context like that, you would be able to acknowledge these hymns as perfect examples of the power exuded when poetry and religion join hands.

The description of the twelfth century Renaissance by Charles H. Haskins is perhaps the most suitable summation for this post:

[the 12th century in Europe was the era of] The epoch of the Crusades, of the rise of towns, and of the earliest bureaucratic states of the West, it saw the culmination of Romanesque art and the beginnings of Gothic; the emergence of the vernacular literatures; the revival of the Latin classics and of Latin poetry and Roman law; the recovery of Greek science, with its Arbaic additions, and of much of Greek philosophy; and the origin of the first European universities. The twelfth century left its signature on higher education, on the scholastic philosophy (most famous of these scholastic practitioners was Thomas Aquinas), on European systems of law, on architecture and sculpture, on the liturgical drama, on Latin and vernacular poetry....







Recommended reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_literature

Prior to Romantic Criticism

If we do not club 'literary theory and criticism' with the other aspects of literature, we would be justified to place 'Romantic Criticism' immediately after 'Theory in Antiquity'. However, let's keep in mind, that the age of Romanticism did not arrive till the late 18th century. Some people would argue that Sidney's Defence of Poesy was a part of Romanticism. Even so, we must remember that Sidney did not write till the 16th century.

Between the end of antiquity and the beginning of Romanticism, lies an entire renaissance and Geoffery Chaucer. Between Sidney and German Romanticism, lies another Renaissance and the milestones of Restoration, Classicism, Enlightenment, Augustan Literature, Neo Classicism and the Age of Reason. Following is a chronological list of literary movements up to German Romanticism. Though I only mention the 'terms', i.e. names of the movements here, I will be publishing individual posts on each of these:

1. Classical Age or Antiquity (8th-4th century B.C. : discussed before)


2. Middle Ages (Renaissance of the 12th and 13th century)


3. Age of Geoffery Chaucer (European Renaissance begins)


4. Renaissance spreads all through Europe


5. Sir Philip Sidney's Apology for Poetry (also called 'Defence of Poetry' or 'Defence of Poesy')


6. Puritan ban on theatre


7. Restoration


8. Classicism


9. Enlightenment


10. Amatory fiction (Romantic fiction begins: written mostly by women - Eliza Haywood, Delarivier Manley)


11. Cavalier poets (17th century Royalists poets writing of courtly love: Lovelace, Davenant)


12. Metaphysical poets (17th century. Use of extended conceit: Donne, Herbert)


13. The Augustans (18th century. Based on classical ideals, satire and skepticism: Pope, Jonathan Swift)


14. Neoclassicism or the Age of Reason


15. German Romanticism

The next few posts will discuss these movements individually. But keep in mind that this would only be background information. The above were the literary trends observed during the interim centuries. All of them are not related to theory and criticism. Speaking strictly in terms of 'Literary Theory and Criticism' (and not literature as a whole), only Sidney's Apology for Poetry and the Romantic Criticism of Wordsworth and Coleridge are significant.

Photograph

This is my first, and last photograph of him. It seems like yesterday, and another lifetime ago. He entered the class drooping under the weight of a schoolbag too full of knowledge. The day had just begun. The assembly bell was about to ring any minute. As always, we were asked to form a queue outside our room. The new kid joined the line too.

After the assembly, the class teacher decided to change our seating arrangement. It was the third time that month! She asked the new guy to sit with me. My friend and ex-benchmate Kit, was now at the other end of the room. Needless to say, we didn't like the plan much.

When the bell rang for the first period, he was introduced to the class. I didn't pay much attention to the details. Just caught the name. Akshay.

I could tell he was confused. That frown had only deepened since the first period. But it wasn't my fault he had trouble understanding the lesson. I hadn't asked him to join school three months late. Besides, he hadn't asked for my help either. He sat alone during the lunch-break poring over his books, and we all ignored him without a second thought.

At the end of the day, he packed up his stuff and disappeared. The teacher asked me if I knew which school bus he was on. I shrugged. How was I supposed to know? He hadn't said a word to me all day.

Kit and I used to call each other. Everyday. For at least an hour. Mom could never understand what we had to talk about after spending all day right next to each other at school. Well ma, we don't sit together any more. We will have even more to discuss now. Naah... I didn't actually say that. I did think it though.

On the phone that day, I told Kit I didn't like the new kid in class. My reasons: He didn't speak to any of us, didn't try to make any friends, just kept frowning all day. Kit said when someone frowns so much, his face gets frozen that way. I laughed out loud! I know, it wasn't very nice of me, but oh well....

When he sat surrounded by his notes during lunch on the third day too, I decided I had seen enough. Poor kid looked terrified when I sat down next to him and picked up his English notebook. (Of' course I picked English first. It was my best subject. I'd defy anyone who claims they are above all vanity!). I explained the concept taught that day. Then told him what we had covered so far and gave him the schedule for the next couple of days. He didn't say anything. But the frown disappeared.

We weren't friends. I was more like a tutor. At first, I had to ask him all the questions. Did you understand this part? Have you ever done linear equations before? Do you know what we mean by GDP? Slowly, with every passing day, we changed roles. He asked the questions, and I answered. He described what he had understood, and I gave him my inputs on it. He still had trouble asking a question in class, but I didn't think that mattered as long as he was able to follow what was taught. It took him quite a few months to catch up with the rest of the class. Then our seating arrangement was changed again. Kit came closer. So did he.

We started spending our lunch-breaks together. All three of us. Kit and I barely ever stopped talking. He listened. Then one day, he asked me if he could drop me home from school. I had never been in a car before. Let alone a chauffeur-driven one. It became the topic of several telephone conversations with Kit.

By the end of that year, Akki was my best friend. He was still terribly shy around others. But with me, he shared everything, and anything. I thought I knew him inside out. I was wrong.

It was announced as an official half-day at school. As if that wasn't enough to boost our spirits, they declared it a no-studies day too! After all, what could be more appropriate for teacher's day? Girls were asked to dress up in saris or Indian suits, while the guys could opt for traditional Indian or western formal outfits. I remember Akki had been pretty adamant on going to school in everyday uniform. But then, I never was one to back down from a fight. I finally convinced him. I think it was a mixture of threats and blackmail. Somehow, my memory's a bit fuzzy on that one.

Everyone looked pretty funny, so it didn't take us too long to overcome the embarrassment of being dressed up. The program was held in the school auditorium. We watched our seniors mimic our teachers in a funny play. Then our school band performed songs by Bryan Adams, who by the way, was a favourite with the whole school (I'm not kidding. Ask any TAPSite!). As juniors, we did our bit by helping out at the refreshment stand. Then dozed through the principal's long speech. Finally, we were left free for the last hour before the school ended.

Then it happened.

Kit and I got pulled into a game of dodge ball. Boys vs girls. Still not completely open with the rest of our class, Akki chose not to play. Although he did laugh his heart out each time Kit or I got hit. The girls won the match. Kit fetched the camera he had brought to school and we all posed for a group photograph. I wanted a snap with Akki and Kit. But when I looked up to find him, Akki had disappeared.

He hadn't left for the day. Akshay, the new kid in class, may have done that. But not our Akki. He would have told us. We were sure of that. We looked everywhere. When we couldn't find him, we decided to go check the parking lot. If at all he had left for home, the log would have an entry for his car.

At the school gate, the security guard stopped us. Being a prefect, I could be allowed to step out of the school if I made an entry in the security log, but not Kit, even if it was only to the parking lot outside. Despite all our assurances, the guard insisted that the only way out was if there was a teacher willing to accompany Kit. Ordinarily I'd have done more to convince the guard, but I was worried about my friend. Leaving them to fight it out, I filled the security log and walked off.

He looked up as I came close. Something about his face told me he was about to run. Well, at least, I remember thinking that. I don't remember the exact expression anymore. Then he turned away from me and opened the car door. At least he was okay. But even as that registered, I was miffed to see the very obvious attempt to ignore the conversation he knew was headed his way. Worry changed to anger almost instantaneously.

Did I mention I was a problem child? One who doesn't back down from a fight? Well, this time was no different. I told him he was nuts to leave us worried like that and disappear. The frown returned. So did the silence. He didn't say a word when I told him he didn't really care about his friends. Nor when I labelled him selfish and mean. Not even when I said I should never have made friends with him in the first place. As always, he stood listening. Quiet. I, on the other hand, couldn't stop hurling the accusations. Not until suddenly, out of nowhere, Kit came up behind him and said, "Hey!" Akki turned, and flash!... armed and ready, Kit took the photograph. Before any of us knew what was happening, Akki collapsed!

His body shook uncontrollably. His eyes rolled up. His mouth opened but no words came out. Kit and I froze. We were kids. We had no idea what to do. It didn't even strike us to call out for help!

Thankfully, the driver returned just then. He ran towards us, lifted Akki off the ground, and laid him across the back seat of the car. Kit told me to go with them since I knew what had triggered the attack. He said he would run back and let the school authorities know. Thank goodness for Kit. All I could do was stare. I had never been more scared in my whole life! I prayed all the way to the hospital.

This is the first and last photograph I have of him. A frown on his face. His lips sealed tight. The expression seems like a mix of irritation, surprise and... and something else.

............

Yes, I know. It's off the topic of literature. Thought I'd share a story before we picked up where we left off. By the way, Akki is standing beside me while I write this. The story was his idea. He is still lousy at most school subjects... and he is still my best friend. All's right with our world. How? That's another post for another time. :)

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