Ritu Singh
There are only a few writers who can evoke such vehement emotions in you and leave you astound with wonder. Such is the case with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. No other writer has the ability to crumple and swivel reality as he does. No wonder the art of magic realism nurtured so well in his amity.
My first introduction to Gabo goes back to my college days when I first read his novella, `Chronicle of a Death Foretold`. After reading this metaphysical murder mystery, I had my first adventure into the world of magical realism in a Psuedo-journalistic-reconstruction. It left me in introspection and it took several re-readings in order to completely penetrate all of the layers of one of his best works.
But the feeling of complete awe, struck me when I read `Love in the time of Cholera`. This book took me into a whole new different world; into the land of exotic, the passionate world of lovestruck men and women and the scents of the autumn blossoms. If you can deeply connect with the characters, at the end of the novel you will be struck figuring out the real and the illusory; logic and reason and will come to realise that the true definition of love is hidden in its elusiveness.
Well, my endearment for him finally got confirmed when I read the last page of `One Hundred Years of Solitude`. I took a deep breath and said to myself, ``Wow! That was the most amazing book I have ever read.`` The overwhelming impact it had on my mind shapes up the most significant part of my reading experience. It is wonderful to witness how Marquez has splashed a whole pot-pourri of emotions in the realm of a family drama set in a magical Latin Amercian town.
Once I fell in love with his enthralling and riveting stories,there was no looking back. I relished on his lyrical words and let them touch my soul.
Now that he is dead, I feel sad. But more than the sorrow, I feel privileged to have witnessed a life well lived. It is an honour to have read and loved him and his works has left me with a deep sense of gratitude.Colombian Colombian President has rightly paid him the right tribute, “A thousand years of solitude and sadness because of the death of the greatest Colombian of all time!`
But the greatest tribute we can give him, as readers, is to never let his reassuring voice die in our hearts. A voice which breathes a new life into the mundane things of life, a voice that stimulates your imagination, a voice that makes you grapple with the wonderful marriage of memories and nostalgia and the one which promises you that the future is indeed going to be magical.
And yes, the literary world will forever be indebted to you Gabo for you are the one who has created that magical world where truth and imagination meet.