for HJ, KJ and MJ

      Preface

      The book is made of three monologues. I call them fictional autobiographies. The voices I have chosen are of three historically real figures: Kabir (1440-1518), Maria Chekhova (1863-1957) and Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639). By and large I haven’t altered verifiable biographical facts but I have used creative instinct and imagination to make the voices narratively real and palpable. To infuse narrative drive to the monologues I have introduced a few fictional characters, such as Kalu Kasera in Kabir, Olga S and Egorushka in Maria Chekhova and Pietro, Abram Levi and Luigi Jolli in Tommaso Campanella. The existence of these characters can not be verified but their presence is highly probable and historically plausible. My research tells me that people like these did exist and might have played roles similar to those I have described in these imagined narratives. As far as possible I have tried to create real and authentic voices but the sensibility that drives the narrative is defined by the anxieties of our times.

      Kabir

      Kabir (1440 – 1518)

      Kabir was a mystic poet of India influenced by Shaivite Hinduism, Tantric Yoga and Sufism. He is generally associated with the Bhakti Movement—a movement of religious and cultural reformation. The date and place of his birth are shrouded in mystery, as are the many circumstances of his life. His songs, couplets and verses were composed in a local dialect and widely sung during his time. Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the first Sikh Guru, compiled and edited more than five hundred verses of Kabir and included them in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs.

      Kabir was a weaver and hence metaphors related to weaving are abundant in his verses. In his songs he criticised both Hindu and Muslim orthodoxies and beliefs. He never wanted to be called a saint, but a saint he was made, with both Hindus and Muslims laying claim to his life and teachings.

      The monologue begins a few months before his death.