Mythical beasts

MY love for Greek myth is what informs my interest in a number of other subjects, reveals Ruth Padel. The poet-turned-novelist was in India recently with her schedule packed with book readings and lectures and visits to friends.

Ruth Padel explains her fascination with Greek myth and Indian fauna

MY love for Greek myth is what informs my interest in a number of other subjects, reveals Ruth Padel. The poet-turned-novelist was in India recently with her schedule packed with book readings and lectures and visits to friends. The highlight though,for fans of Padels poems on

nature,should be a rare reading from her works on Greek tragedy which was a part of the PEN-India lectureat the Prithvi Theatre.

Greek mythology and culture will always remain my first passion, says Padel,I did my PhD from Oxford on ancient Greek tragedy. In fact,the writer is so enamoured of ancient Greek culture that shes even been on archaeological excavations of Minoan ruins on the island of Crete and shes lived on and off in Greece for many years. Even her book,Im a Man,traces the origins of rock music all the way back to the idea of masculinity found in Greek myth. When asked about it,she laughs and says,Yes,its true. In fact,you could say that even my love for tigers stems from my love for myth. After all,there isnt another animal that is so shrouded in myth and legend as the tiger is.

Appropriately enough,she describes her first wild tiger encounter as an other-worldly experience. It was when I was in the Kanha National Park. I was on the back of an elephant,when suddenly a young tiger approached us from a distance. I could feel the elephant stiffen,but all that the tiger did was sit down and watch us. It was an extraordinary experience. I lost all awareness of my person, she says. In fact,all Indian faunafrom the tawny tiger to the sloth bear to the king cobra fascinate her. She recalls,I was seven years old when I had my tonsils out. Somebody gave me a pack of cards so that I could amuse myself as I recovered. Those cards did not have the traditional hearts,spades,clubs and diamonds. Instead,they had animals and Im not sure why,but I simply fell in love with the Indian animals.

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Mythical beasts

MY love for Greek myth is what informs my interest in a number of other subjects, reveals Ruth Padel. The poet-turned-novelist was in India recently with her schedule packed with book readings and lectures and visits to friends.

MY love for Greek myth is what informs my interest in a number of other subjects, reveals Ruth Padel. The poet-turned-novelist was in India recently with her schedule packed with book readings and lectures and visits to friends.