French Prof. Gilles Tarabout's Preface to the book 'The French Collection' by K J S Chatrath

 One of my published books is 'The French Collection' narrating my experiences in France. I was privileged that Prof. Gilles Tarabout wrote a very culturally and linguistically rich preface for this book. May I briefly introduce Prof. Tarabout before sharing the 'Preface' written by him.

                                                                Prof. Gilles Tarabout

 Prof. Gilles Tarabout was (since retired) the Director of Research at the Centre National de de l'Asie du Sud (CEIAS), and Director of the India and South Asia Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), a member of the Centre d'Etudes de l'Inde et Programme of Collaboration in Social Sciences at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris, France.

He is a social anthropologist. His work is focused on Indian society and more particularly on the relationships between society and religion in Kerala (South India). He has co-directed a dozen edited books or journal issues, and has co-organized with Daniela Berti an international research programme funded by the French ‘Agence Nationale de la Recherche’, Just-India, Justice and Governance in India and South Asia. He was also a Visiting Fellow at the Yale University, USA. 

 

                                                                  "PREFACE

It is a privilege and a pleasure to introduce to Dr. K. J. S. Chatrath's book of reminiscences, so full of lively notes and comments about France. This is one of the books that makes one feel better when reading it. The reasons are obvious.

First, I discovered that the Paris metro could be an enjoyable place. This is not only because Dr. Chatrath's young son wanted to become a metro driver (a vocation that seems to have vanished later on, unfortunately for the Parisians): I, too, wanted to be a train driver and I fully sympathize. However, my happiness comes from the fact that the book restores the metro system to its true nature of entertainment. Alas, how far this is from the current perception by metro daily practitioners! We have a French way for underlining the everyday dullness of commuters' lives, "metro, boulot, dodo", which may be poorly rendered by "metro, work, sleep". Let then the commuters read this book!

Secondly, I discovered also that the insistence on rationality which is usually said to be a French qualit, could even be applied to the French language. The constant Dr.Chatrath rightly  insists on the preoccupation that is shown in the French educational system on the proper acquisition (I would not dare to say "mastering") of the language. I have to add something. Correct French spelling is a national cause for great anxiety. There was a time when a popular TV programme used to organize an annual public contest... in spelling. There were scores of candidates. A kind of fever took everybody in all the families, from children to grandparents. This was a spelling event on a grand scale! And only a handful, for the whole of France, could succeed and pass the test!

Now, one may wonder, is it possible that a language may be both rational and impossible to spell correctly? The answer (in the case of French) is a definite yes, may be both rational and impossible to spell correctly because we possess the ultimate rational rule. This rule is encapsulated in one sentence, learned by heart in all primary schools. Whenever one meets with something unaccounted for by ordinary grammatical rules, the sentence is: "c'est l'exception qui confirme la règle", literally, "this is the exception that confirms the rule"! If exceptions by their very nature prove a rule, you really can work wonders...

Thirdly, the book is in itself a celebration of life. Dr. Chatrath has found occasions to enjoy life in France, and elsewhere, in all the small, but important events that make life a continuous personal enrichment through meetings with different people having their own ways of life (I'm surprised, though, that he didn't mention the French cheese with their sometimes impressive smell). The combination of all these experiences, and their retelling with a wonderful sensitivity and good humour, makes for the book that is now in your hands.

It makes also for the fourth and most important reason for enjoying its reading: this is a book by a humanist, by a writer who, through each and every sentence, shows that he deeply believes in life, in people, and in friendship.

Let this preface be a small tribute to this friendship."

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