On the Sublime, Republic Day and Spring

Sunil Sharma

And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.

 

---William Wordsworth

 

 

Happy-2023 to the Setu family!

Welcome to the January edition!

A month when winter peaks to decline slowly---and herald a change to the spring.

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This month's focus: sublime.

Through the agency of authorship.

 

Executed via the intertwined modes of thoughts, words, images, moods and visuals. 

And the sheer joy of creation out of this complex process!

Whole thing is sublime!

 

Longinus talks of this unique human faculty of creating spiritual value and an artistic unit that intrinsically carries a transcendental quality and loftiness:

 

For our soul is raised out of nature through the truly sublime, sways with high spirits, and is filled with proud joy, as if itself had created what it hears.

 

Production of beauty; of poetry, fresh arrangements of words and images for an audience keen for finding the exalted in the everyday!

 

Titled as: "Poetry on canvas/ picture/ photopoetry", the open call got a good response. 

 

After going through the criteria of composition, angle, colours and verbal and visual imagery, some 16 creatives got selected for this special section.

 

You will love the wide spectrum of pictorial and linguistic works that primarily deal with the enduring notions of beauty and sublimity in their chosen fields of activities and artistic choices.

 

Another initiative by your favouraite bilingual journal trying to innovate ways of engagement with the artistic in a market economy promoting kitsch and fantasy and superheroes.

 

Some fine content serving the needs for the aesthetic.

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India celebrated her 73th Republic Day on January 26th, a holiday and an exciting event for the Indians across the world.

A vibrant nation marches on, despite the challenges and odds, in the path forward.

The largest democracy thrives and remains committed to the highest ideals of democracy and the guiding republican spirit. 

The Constitution as the supreme framework, finer principles of governance; pluralism, secularism and tolerance, as the defining virtues continue to guide the most populous nation towards further social and technological progress.

Our very best wishes for the country and the diaspora for this milestone!

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January also marks the various agrarian festivals that signal the arrival of  the Spring.

 

The celebration of seasons and remaining alive inside and outside the being---that is the message of the Vasant (Spring).

May Vasant touch every soul and mind with the vernal showers!

 

Some other interesting features---critical peer readings by eminent writers; an author interview; a serial novel and cool works of poetry and prose in the general section--- make the issue a collector's item.

 

Read on, please!

 

Thanks to the contributors and you for the continued support.

 

With very best wishes,

Sunil Sharma

Editor, Setu (English)
Toronto, Canada

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Setu, January 2023