The Hindu Business Line : A look at life through the wrong end of a telescope

WHAT is so special about Marvolo, who was "left in squalor and poverty, with a very nasty temper, a fantastic amount of arrogance and pride"? Just that the line is the only occurrence of `poverty' in the 800-plus story that millions of children are gobbling up, even as the Foreign Ministers of the 19-nation Rio Group political bloc have declared war on poverty as the chief issue on the hemispheric agenda, and the UN is talking of `research in villages' as the new poverty weapon.

Marvolo, you'd read, belongs to "a very ancient Wizarding family noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins", and that's one of the two instances of `violence' I can trace in Rowling's new work. The other `violence' is where Professor Trelawney shuffles "a pack of dirty-looking playing cards" and reads, "Two of spades: conflict... Seven of spades: an ill omen. Ten of spades: violence."

But the world moves on, as I write this, with Dallas Morning News `6 hours ago' saying, `Egypt attack may mark new wave of violence'; Telegraph.co.uk reporting `Four die in new violence', 33 minutes ago; and Xinhua predicting `Iraqi forces expect surge of violence in Baghdad', 2 hours ago.

`Pollution' or `pollute' doesn't seem to exist in the world of wizards and muggles, perhaps because `vehicle' and `fuel' too are absent. There is no `bomb' but blasts are there, such as when Harry pulls out his wand and warns Hagrid, "If you don't open the door, we'll blast it open!" and when towards the end of the book "there was a flash of light and the werewolf was blasted out of the way; he hit the ramparts and staggered" - sometime before "Dumbledore was blasted into the air".

Further on, "the oak front doors had been blasted open, there were smears of blood on the flagstones, and several terrified students stood huddled against the walls, one or two still cowering with their arms over their faces."

Well, they won't know what explosive was used, because there's no sign of `dynamite', `ammunition' or `RDX'. Yet, there is at least one instance of `gunpowder' after "Mrs Weasley pointed her wand at a lamp on the bedside table and it ignited at once, bathing the room in a pleasant golden glow". A large vase of flowers had been placed on a desk in front of the small window, but their perfume could not disguise the lingering smell of what Harry thought was gunpowder!

If `literacy' is a major problem, don't expect that or `illiteracy' to be an issue for the Half-Blood Prince. Similarly, `environment' and `ecology' are as absent as `global warming', only making me wonder if activists are plotting a protest on that count!

There is lot of `gold' but no `wealth' or `income'. Thankfully, there's no `tax' either, but `account' appears in the financial sense at least once, as when Dumbledore telling Harry, "You add a reasonable amount of gold to your account." You can spot many occurrences of `hospital' though `sickness' is absent; but there are `sickles' and a hint of Harry being `lovesick'. They're planning to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease, is for `disease', and perhaps suggestive of how one may view the Departments! The only `doctor' is where Riddle asks Dumbledore, "`Professor?'... Is that like `doctor'?'"

Harry's world is a happy one, with no `bankruptcy' or `insolvency', nor `auditor', `advocate', `journalist', `economist' or `lawyer'. While `minister' is one too many, and you have a sprinkling of `police', there is but a lone `politician'. That's when Fudge looked `distinctly careworn'; he was thinner, balder, and greyer, and his face had a crumpled look, a kind of look that the Prime Minister had seen in politicians before, "and it never boded well".

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells, said Theodor Geisel. "Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities." Only, the laugh comes at a hefty price that the publishers have stamped on the book, unless you have stumbled on a PDF that's doing its rounds in the world of commons!

E&OE@TheHindu.co.in

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A look at life through the wrong end of a telescope