Wednesday 23 December 2009

INDIAN DRUMS PART-II

A Journey With the Knowing of Devotional Musical Instruments

Prevalent Indian Drums-Structure and composition

Leather instruments are mainly called as ‘Anabadha’ or ‘Abadha’ playing instruments.
In India there are several types of instruments.The significant names among them are Pakhawaj,Tabla,Khol,Dhol,Nakkara,Mridangam,Dvil,Sudha Maddalam,Chenda,Urumi,Pambai,Udukku,Tumbakanari,Huduk,Tilima etc.

The descriptions are as follows:-(Leaving out Tabla and Pakhawaj)

Khol:-
The other name of ‘Khol’ is ‘Mridangam’ but it should be confused with the ‘North Indian ancient Mridangam’ or ‘Pakhwaj’.The whole body of ‘Khol’ is made with burnt clay. The middle portion is higher and has two slanting faces on either side.The two face are made of leather and the middle of each face has a black portion called ‘Gab’.The right face(maxm. size-2/3 inches) is smaller as compared to the left face. The specialty of ‘Khol’ is there is no need of adjusting ‘sur’ or scale as in the case of tabla. ‘Khol’ is usually used with ‘Kirtans’, Devotional songs and ‘Kirtananga Rabindra Sangeet’ .It is also used with Manipuri dances.


Dhol:-
The body of a Dhol is made of wood and the faces are of leather. Normally a ‘Dhol’ is 18’’ to 20’’ inches in length and 12’’ in breadth. The two sides are fitted with strong ‘Rojju’ which are given through small round rings. The rings are used to adjust the scale of the instrument. They are played with free hands or sometimes with the help of sticks. They are mostly used to accompany folk songs.


Nakkara: -
‘Nakkara’ is one the most significant ancient musical instruments. ‘Bheri’ or ‘Dundubi’ can be considered just as different types of ‘Nakkara’. Usually ‘Nakkara’ is made of Bronze or Brass and its shape is much like the ‘Bayan’ of a tabla. The face is made of leather and is tightly fitted by ‘Rojju’. Its height is approximately 2’1/2 feet to 3 feet. ‘Nakkara’ is played with the help of sticks but with the ‘Sanai’ of North India ‘Nakkara’ is played with hand only.


Mridangam:-
The North Indian ‘Pakhawaj’ is called as ‘Mridangam’ but it has certain dissimilarities with the ‘Mridangam’ of South India. The size of a ‘Mridangam’ is less than that of a ‘pakhawaj’ and whereas the left face of a ‘Pakhawaj’ is played with open palm ,in case of ‘Mridangam’ it is played with fingers like that of a ‘Bayan’ of a Tabla. The length of a ‘Mridangam’ is approximately 1’1/2 to 2 feet. It is usually played with heavy classical music and songs of North India.


Tabhil: -
The shape of a ‘Tabhil’ is much like that of a ‘Dhol’ Its right face is played with fingers while left face with strong wooden stick. This instrument is used with classical musical instruments of North India.

Suddha Maddalam:-
It’s a North India musical instrument and resembles much like that of a ‘Mridangam’ but much bigger in size than ‘Mridangam’ and its ‘gab’ is also much thicker and larger.It has a much heavier sound wave than ‘Mridangam’. This instrument is indispensable for the Kathakali dance of Kerela.

Chenda: -
‘Chenda’ is a type of ‘Dhol’ with length 2 feet and breadth 1 foot. It is played with the help of two sticks in two hands. It is also used with Kathakali dance of Kerela. It is also used with the folk dances of Northern and southern India.

Urum:-
It is also like ‘dhol’ in structure and the two faces are made of leather.It is played with the help of a 1’1/2 inches long curved stick.

Pambai:-
It has been made by uniting two 1 foot long ‘Dhols’ together. The upper part is made of brass and the lower part is made of wood and both faces are of leather. It is played with hand and stick. It is usually used with folk dances of the Northern India.


Udukku:-

It is about one foot long with a thin middle part and shaped like that of a ‘Dugdugi’. It is either made of wood or mud. It is held in left hand and played with right hand. It has limited use in some folk songs of Tamil Nadu.



Tumbakanari:-

It is the Kashmiri ‘Dholak’. It is shaped like a water pot. The lower part is made of leather. It is help below the left arm and played with the right hand. It is a very popular instrument of Kashmir.

Hudukku:-

It is like a ‘Dumru’ but much larger in size. Its both faces are made of leather and are held together by strong rope. It is suspended with a rope from the left shoulder and played with the right hand. It is popular in the ‘Gharwal’ AREAS.



Timila:-

It is also a type of dholak. It is suspended with a rope from the left shoulder and the upper part is played with both hands. It is used in devotional songs of temples of Kerela.

by Sonnet Mondal.

Tuesday 22 December 2009

The Christmas dreams came true!




Last week I got an e-mail of a young guy from Latin America, he is about fourteen years age, maybe a little bit more, he wrote that he read about Bombadil Publishing somewhere and he don’t believe this marvelous opportunity. I mean, he explained to me that he have a big trust on us, in our editorial work, but it’s was so amazing that’s was unreliable and unbelievable, because he had dream about to be listened by somebody and to be interested in his book.
This young boy wrote that in the matter of the facts he beg to Santa in a letter for two years ago if he could find an editorial agency whom could take care on his literary business and finally came Bombadil Publishing in his life as a gift from the sky, a gift he had asked for to Santa. A Christmas gift! His dream about to be edited came true with Bombadil Publishing!
I wrote back this young boy, that Bombadil Publishing is a really matter, that we are represented globally nearly all around the world, that we have several thousand young writers whom are a part of our world, a part of our vision to get a better world, with our slogan YOUTH2YOUTH have found the heart of many young writers around the world whom transmitted their messages of love, their messages of hope, peace and love to other young writers and other young people… And adults too!
I wrote too to this young boy that is not a casualty that Tom Bombadil (Our inspirited character of the Trilogy of the Lord of the Ring) and Santa had a splendid white beard, and both like children, but I aggregated that Tom Bombadil likes younger to twenty six year old and everybody who’s thinking as a young!

We at Bombadil Publishing wish Merry Christmas to everybody and Happy New Year

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Indian Drums-A Musical Journey

There is no reveal of Tabla or Pakhwaj in primeval India. Inspite of this predominantly no discrepancy can be found out between Pakhwaj and Mridangam though many such differences can be found in Tabla. Beliefs and estimations vary about their existence in past and their time of arrival.

The seals of the Mohenjodaro Indus valley civilization contain depictions of men playing long cylindrical drums hung around their necks played horizontally. These drums are most similar to the kharrang of Assam and with the dhole of the Reddis of Andra Pradesh. Other drums inscribed on the seals include an hour glass shaped drum like the hudukka, castanets and cymbals. Some arched harps found in their hieroglyphics and unearthed clay whistles demonstrate they developed a tonal system, but no literature exists which we can translate in order to learn about that system.

The first credentials of music occur in the Vedic scriptures, of the Aryan culture. The most ancient Vedic literature describes drums covered with the skins of wild animals, large earthen drums, and the role of the drums in various rituals. The name of the drum mentioned in vedic literature was ‘dundhubi’.

Literature from the Nardiyasiksa and the Natyasastra that was written around 100 B.C.E. provides a great deal of knowledge regarding music. Naradiysiksa, describes vedic and ghandharva music. It states that semi-divine ghandharva music is composed of three elements: svara, tala, and pada. Narad describes the essentials of vocal and instrumental music. In the 31st and 32nd chapters, the Natyasastra gives descriptions of tala, the fundamental aspects of India rhythm. According to Bharata, tala was known as 'ghana' and time as 'kala'. Laya, called kalapata, subdivided into vilamvita (slow), madhya (medium), and druta (fast). Kala divided into three parts, citra (two matras), vartika (four mantras), and daksima (eight mantras). Bharata stated that tala, or time unit, was known as the measurement of kala, ('kala kala pramanena tala ityabhdhiyate' 31.7). Two kinds of talas existed, n'sabda (soundless or beatless), and sa'sabda (with sound or beat). The soundless tala again subdivided into 4 kinds: samya, tala, dhruva, and sannipata. Other terminology regarding rhythm included: yati (a method of applying a tempo of a tala -- of which they had several kinds: sama, srotogata, gopuccha, damaru, pipilika), prakarana (to make a song ready for singing), satala (with any rhythm), atala (without rhythm). With such terminology they clearly developed a complicated rhythmic system. This originated before the classical music age (600 to 500 B.C.E.), as ghandharva music became obsolete before the Bharata period. Ghandharva music provides the link between vedic music and post-vedic marga type of music (which evolved around 700 B.C.E., and provides insight to the classical period as well.

Mridangam was found to have existence from archaic times but it was found unfeasible to prove their existence in vedic ages and the puranas do not give any description of the shape of mridangam in particular. The “Natyasastra” epoch of Indiaprovides us some information regarding the silhouette of the instrument. At that time the ‘mridangam’ that was played placing in one’s lap was much like the present day’s ‘mridangam’ but it lacked the black portion in the middle known as ‘Gab’. Other features that we see in today’s ‘mridangam’ including its name were added to it during the time of Bharatmuni.Swati noticed the salient features of the instrument and named it ‘Tripushkar’ or ‘Pushkartray’. Muktesvara temple (6th-7th century) and Bhuranesvara (and three other cave temples) of Badari in Bombay (6th century) contain depictions of the Puskara. Musicians often placed the puskara's smaller verticle drum (called 'alinga'), on their lap and played more than one drum at a time. Given the the design, technology, and musical structure for drums common in this this period, we can piece together numerious features of the tabla. During the time of Shrangadeb the name ‘Mridangam’ again replaced the name ‘Pushkar’ and the name ‘Mardol’ accompanied it.The differences between ‘Mridangam’ and ‘Mardol’ was the former had 12 finger size of the two faces while the later had 13 and 14 finger size respectively. ‘Mardol’ was made of wood and had rings to adjust the scale and tune while ‘Mridangam’ was made of tight clay and mud. The similarity was the black middle portion ‘gab’ was densely made in both cases.

The name of ‘Mardol’ and ‘Mridangam’ was found to be associated in the music of different cults in India but none of the books clearly mentioned about them. Suddenly during the Muslim advent in Indiath page of this book he has written a four line sloka which indicated the use of Tabla and Pakhwaj in Northern and Western India during14th and 15th century. the name ‘Pakhwaj’ came into existence. In the book named “Sangeetoponishadsarodhar” written by Sudhakashal presented a detailed study upon opinion of youths free of western influence regarding Indian music. In the 87

It is guessed that in the 14th century, ‘pushkar’ and another instrument named ‘Abja’ was combined to create ‘Pakhwaj’.

Taking a look into the discovery of Tabla there are so many conclusions and varying opinions about it. The correct is still unheard of.

Some of the noted are:-
1>Some experts consider that Tabla originated from the Arabian instrument ‘Tabl’.The name has been supposed to come from the son of musician Jubal’s son Tubal.
2>One strong belief is In 1300 A.D. during the reign of Allauddin Khilji Parsi Poet Amir Khusrau discovered Tabla.
3>In paras another instrument name ‘Nakkara’ was prevalent .Therefore Tabla also might be a Parsi instrument.
4>Going into ancient times some people believe that Tabla has oriinated from the instrument “Audharka” which was much like Tabla in structure.
5>Sangeetacharya Gopeshwar Bandopadhyay believe that Amir Khusrau the second , the disciple of Sadaranga was the real founder of Tabla.This was during the period of Mughal Ruler 3rd Mohammad Shah.
6> Some people believe that famous Pakhwaj player of Delhi Ustad Sudhar separated pakhwaj to make tabla.

Sudhakushal said that Tabla is a Muslim instrument but there is no proof in history supporting his statement. There is no substantiation anywhere that Tabla was used in the 12thCentury before the coming of Anir Khusrau but again in some books of western writers it has been mentioned that instrument like Tabla was used from the 6th century. Another thing worth mentioning here is in Italy there was an instrument named ‘Tipani’.The photo of ‘Tipani’ which we can see in the 192ndpage of the book “Musical instruments through the ages” indicates clearly that the Arabian ‘Tabl’ was like the ‘Bayan’ of a tabla. Another instrument named ‘Tabar’ was found in Western lands that indicated the shape of the ‘Dahina’ of a Tabla. So the time period from when did this instrument come into play is still controversial but the reason of the discovery of Tabla was quite obvious. Musical instruments like ‘Mridangam’ or ‘Pakhwaj’ produced heavy and deep seated sounds and were suitable for songs like ‘Dhrupads’ but on the other hand as the light classicals like ‘Khayals’ and ‘Ghazals’ became popular there was a need for a much more lyrical and sharp sounding musical instrument that led to the discovery of Tabla.

by Sonnet Mondal.

Europa y Latino América: ¡¡¡DE JOVEN A JOVEN !!!

Deseo comunicarle al mundo entero con mucha alegría y beneplácito que cada vez que un joven escritor nos contacta me contagia con su energía e inspiración cuando leo sus textos y manuscritos.


Desde la Península Ibérica y su capital Madrid, nos ha contactado el talentoso y enérgico joven Yoandy Cabrera, el cual ha obtenido un Máster en Literatura en la capital del idioma español y a enviado a nuestras redacciones el principio de un libro que hemos enviado a uno de nuestros mentores y auguramos un éxito literario.


También me llena de mucha satisfacción que desde mis queridas tierras andinas y mas específicamente Perú, nos ha contactado el joven talento y promesa peruana, Franco Finocchiario, estudiante de la prestigiosa Universidad de Lima, estoy segura que tanto Bombadil Publishing y Franco trabajaran arduamente para obtener un magnifico resultado el cual se reflejará en un legado a las futuras generaciones en forma de un libro editado.
Pero también desde tierras “ticas” es decir el verde y democrático país de Costa Rica, hemos establecido contacto con el joven escritor y poeta Andrés Jiménez.


Y desde las cálidas y tropicales tierras salvadoreñas, nos han llegado dos libros de dos jóvenes talentos literarios a saber: Luis Guillermo Ibáñez con Pseudónimo Luis Gallamo de tan solo 15 años al cual le predecimos un brillante futuro por las cualidades literarias mostradas, por ser ganador de varios premios literarios, nos ha enviado su libro “El Gran Día de Al –Zaidi”.
Además el joven de 14 años Ricardo MancÍa de Pseudónimo Radandi, con su libro “Fabrica Literaria” nos ha impresionado por la calidad de su narrativa en la cual expresa el pensamiento de los jóvenes actuales y estoy segura que este libro es buen material para nuestras imprentas.
Con estos dos jóvenes, nuestro mentor Guillermo Galicia, ha dado una excelente muestra tanto de su trabajo personal como Mentor de Bombadil Publishing y del talento literario de la Juventud Salvadoreña.



Todo esto me llena de mucha inspiración y alegría que los jóvenes en el mundo demuestran la capacidad que tienen para mejorar globalmente y obtener un mundo mejor… Un Mundo Bombadil!!!
¡DE JOVEN A JOVEN!

Maggy Jacinto

Monday 14 December 2009

Lucia!

On the 13th December every year Sweden turns into an ocean of lights for the celebration of Lucia. The traditional way of celebrating this annual event is to dress in a white dressing gown and carry burning candles while singing, often there is a choir performing or school classes and the celebration is mostly held in churchs.

Lucia originally comes from Saint Lucy, but is also known as Saint Lucia, (283 – 304) who was a Christian Martyr. Her name comes from lux, lucis "light", and she is the patron saint of those who are blind. Lucy, or Lucia consecrated her virginity to God, refused to marry, and had her dowry distributed to the poor. Her would-be husband denounced her as a Christian to the governor of Syracuse, Sicily. Miraculously unable to move her or burn her, the guards took out her eyes with a fork. In medieval accounts, Saint Lucy's eyes are gouged out prior to her execution. In art, her eyes sometimes appear on a plate that she is holding.



Sometimes the story behind this celebration is forgotten and vanish behind the happy celebrations, which is a shame since Saint Lucy was and is saint to keep in mind and look up to.
Over&Out
Sara

Sunday 13 December 2009

Human Right’s Day: Still a long way to go

We’ve just celebrated Human Right’s Day on 10th of December. Officially, it’s been being celebrated since 1948 in over 189 countries all over the world. We also mark this day as ‘struggle against poverty’.
On this occasion Mr. Tom Malinowsky from Human Rights Watch in the U.S. state of Washington opined that there had been a significant progress in human rights over the last 40 years" "I think there is greater awareness around the world that people have fundamental rights and that those rights are enshrined in both law domestically and internationally"
The same day an article was published in a leading Australian daily, “The Australian” titled “The day to mourn, not celebrate, human rights”. The article writes that the year 2009 was worst of past decade in terms of human rights’ violation:
“Mass killings have continued in Darfur, the Congo and elsewhere in Africa, with only minor and sporadic attention from the media or the UN.
Dictatorships in North Korea and Burma terrorize their citizens daily, with no end in sight.
In Iran, a rigged election brought thousands of democracy protesters into the streets, where they were attacked (at least 70 people, including Neda Agha-Soltan, were reportedly killed) and arrested, followed by Stalinist show trials designed to intimidate these advocates.
Tragically, Human Rights Day, which marks the anniversary of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Conventions, now serves as a reminder of the abject failure of the international community in living up to its moral commitments. Ignoring the pleas of victims around the world, the UN Human Rights Council is locked on to a political agenda that uses the rhetoric of international law as a weapon in the political war targeting Israel.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, which controls the UNHRCs agenda and chooses its officials, has no interest in opening a discussion of the systematic oppression of women or minorities in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya, Gaza, etc.
Israel is a convenient diversion, which explains the obsessive focus on "war crimes" claims, including the biased mandate of the Goldstone report on the Gaza conflict.
To make matters worse, the non-governmental human rights watchdogs that were created to offset the unethical behavior and biases of governments, have become accomplices in promoting oppression.”
We really have come long way ever since the UNO’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights came into existence. We can’t deny the role of UNHCR and OHCHR in Africa, South America and war affected zones such as Kosovo, Chechnya, Cambodia, Srilanka etc. Thousands of people, especially women and children have been rescued and rehabilitated. Yet, establishing an egalitarian society free of any sort of human rights’ violation is far from reach. Millions of innocent people will continue to suffer even in the most developed parts of the world. If we really want to curb all sorts of human rights’ violations, we must bolster democracy, print and electronic media, police and judiciary system and emphasize on empowering women. Otherwise, all these demonstrations, summits and promises on paper would be of no use.

Yours Alex

Friday 11 December 2009

Bombadil Publishing are opening the Spanish literature ways in Latin America.

Bombadil Publishing has opened the Spanish literature ways in Latin America.
We, in Bombadil Publishing, see our work in Latin America to be growing and growing every day. The Spanish market began to grow in March 2009. Now Bombadil Publishing has its presence in almost all the Latin American countries.

From Canada to the Argentinean Patagonian we can see our wonderful development with young writers and today about 300 young writers are working very hard together with our mentors in Latin America. We are very happy to be a part of this young world who is wonderful, marvelous and in the best literary mood, there are young people meeting young people, young voices are being listened to by others youngsters as well. These young souls are writing in this very moment the books to the next generations, the books to the future, the books that will be the legacy to our children, and the children who will make a better world.

I want to congratulate all our mentors around the world; we have mentors in Swedish, English and Spanish. The YOUTH2YOUTH Messages of peace, love and hope are really true with those young writers as well as our mentors who will give the world this brilliant legacy of literature through Bombadil Publishing and I want to mention those mentors and dedicate a great regards to all of them who are working in Latin America:

Margarita Alfaro, Carlos Molina Velásquez, Miguel Pinto, Guillermo Antonio Galicia, Marco Antonio Lima, Ricardo Berdugo, Preyer Huamán Torres, John Lossio Hawkins, David Vera, Sandra Leiva y Maggy Jacinto.

To all them our gratitude, respect and admiration!
YOUTH2YOUTH
Melvin Gonzalez

Thursday 10 December 2009

Awakening youth to establish an egalitarian society

"[Vivekananda is] one of the very greatest historical figures that India has ever produced. When one sees the full range of his mind, one is astounded." Christopher Isherwood

A spiritual genius, who was born in an affluent Datta family in Kolkata on 12 January 1863, was the living embodiment of handsomest and noblest inheritor of supreme goodness. From childhood, he was an enlightened soul who worshiped science and emphasized on honesty, sincerity and selfless love to conquer the world. To him ‘unselfishness is God’ and ‘Religion is the manifestation of the divinity already in man’.

After 1884, during his journey to explore India, he stumbled upon appalling Poverty and hungry millions all over. He was deeply distressed and decided to awake the slumbering Indians. At the time of wandering and sermonizing, he heard about World’s Parliament of Religions and went on the request of friends in 1893, in Chicago.

Austerity in grave-featured personality and commanding intellect of this anonymous spiritual guru of India that flourished in the significant lecture at the Parliament of Religions, where he represented Hinduism. His profound acquaintance with Eastern as well as Western culture, luminously handsome personality, spiritual insight with Yogic temperament, impressed whoever came in contact with him. He received an honorable appellation - the ‘divine orator’ from his enthusiastic adherents all over the world. "The thought of this warrior prophet of India left a deep mark upon the United States . . . . I cannot touch these sayings of his . . . without giving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And what shocks, what transports must have been produced when in burning words they issued from the lips of the hero!" - Romain Rolland

In his sojourn in the west, he preached the ennobling principle of Vedanta Philosophy and practical analysis of religion. He was agnostic and stressed on working hard with sanguine determination to shape up the life which will indubitably assist us to accomplish at acme of self satisfaction. Self nourishment is an indispensible process for leading a successful life.

In 1893, when he arrived in America, which was by then hardly known in Europe, was quite impressed by the workmanship of the people and progressive culture. After returning in India, he wanted to add new dimension by instilling the inspiration and workmanship spirit in Indian youth so that they could demolish the abject poverty and backwardness of the masses forever.

After 108 years of his death his humanistic teachings are equally relevant. But has India changed? Do the Indian youth possess the tremendous perseverance and comprehensive vision to give it a modern shape? We are overwhelmed by his dynamic spirit, worship him and have built massive monuments in his remembrance. But the question remains, “have we dedicated ourselves for the implementation of the universal figure’s adage?”

It’s time we youth listened to what he voiced a century ago.


.....Mousumi

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Gira Bombadil en Latino América

Vemos con mucho agrado y satisfacción que nuestra actual gira en Latinoamérica esta sobrepasando las metas que nos habíamos propuesto, pues la aceptación que hemos obtenido en la parte oriental de El Salvador ha sido enormemente placentera.

Después de tres entrevistas televisivas y cuatro radiofónicas y una entrevista con la Casa de la Cultura, serán muchos los jóvenes que se acercaran a Bombadil Publishing y allí estaremos para darles las mejores atenciones en la cual desarrollaremos conjuntamente con estos jóvenes escritores; escribiendo acorde a nuestra filosofía e ideología, la comunicación de joven a joven, legado para futuras generaciones.

Maggy Jacinto and Melvin Gonzalez in El Salvadorian TV

Nosotras representantes de Bombadil Publishing Maggy Jacinto y Margarita Alfaro Bulle, estamos trabajando arduamente con nuestros mentores en Latino América para darles seguimiento a todos los jóvenes escritores que se están acercando a Bombadil Publishing tanto en El Salvador y toda Latino América y estamos seguras que pronto daremos a luz los resultados a través de los libros editados.


Pero lo que más nos ha sorprendido a sido el inicio literario de 23 jovencitos de la ciudad de Ahuachapán, la cual se ubica en la zona occidental de El Salvador, en edades comprendidas entre los 14 y 17 años, quienes conjuntamente con nuestros mentores Guillermo Antonio Galicia y Marco Antonio Lima, están desarrollando 23 distintos libros y como parte de nuestra ideología será un legado literario de joven a joven… y también de los adultos que así lo deseen, entre estos 23 temas podemos mencionar : leyendas, historias, cuentos cortos, ficción, en fin temas actuales que llevan mensajes de amor y esperanza para obtener un mundo mejor, un mundo Bombadil.
Desde aquí deseamos exhortar a todos los jóvenes con ambiciones literarias a acercarse a Bombadil y formar parte de nuestros sueños y hacer realidad un mundo diferente.


DE JOVEN A JOVEN


Written by: Maggy Jacinto

Bombadil Publishing se abre camino en grande en Latino América.

Con mucha alegría vemos en Bombadil Publishing que nuestro crecimiento en Latino América se ha dado de una forma asombrosamente explosiva, empezamos nuestras operaciones en Marzo de 2009 y podemos informar orgullosamente que hasta la fecha estamos presente en casi todos los países del continente, desde Canadá hasta la Patagonia en Argentina contamos con el desarrollo de casi cien escritores que en estos momentos han enviado sus manuscritos y alrededor de trescientos que nos han contactado y que se preparan para empezar para escribir un libro con nosotros. Pero nuestros mentores están trabajando arduamente conjuntamente con estos jóvenes escritores haciendo historia dentro de la literatura, desarrollando los libros que serán nuestro legado a futuras generaciones, proporcionando esos mensajes de amor, paz, esperanza y fe que de joven a joven transmiten nuestros libros en Bombadil Publishing.
Como Director Ejecutivo de La Sección en Español de Bombadil Publishing, me siento muy orgulloso de formar parte de este maravilloso grupo de trabajo que conformamos en Bombadil Publishing en español y deseo saludar con mucha alegría a todos esas magnificas personas que dan nombre y que dan vida a nuestra filosofía de ayudar de joven a joven en todo Latino América y España también, me refiero a Maggy Jacinto, Margarita Alfaro, Carlos Molina Velásquez, Miguel Pinto, Guillermo Antonio Galicia, Marco Antonio Lima, Ricardo Berdugo, Preyer Huamán Torres, John Lossio Hawkins, David Vera, Sandra Leiva y muchos otros, desde la Oficinas Internacionales de Bombadil Publishing enviamos este abrazo y este beso a todos ellos.
Pero también es digno de hacer mención de que Bombadil Publishing tiene muchos otros mentores en Sueco y en Ingles quienes atienden nuestros jóvenes escritores alrededor del mundo en muchos países en todos los continentes, inclusive la Antártida, estos mentores están ayudando al desarrollo de los legados literarios en los tres idiomas que editamos nuestros libros, es decir en Ingles, Sueco y Español, podemos afirmar orgullosamente que tenemos diez mil jóvenes escritores que de forma global están en contacto permanente con nosotros y pronto el mundo vera el resultado de esta maravillosa colaboración en el resultado de miles de libro editados por nuestra Editorial Bombadil Publishing.


DE JOVEN A JOVEN CON LA LITERATURA

Melvin González
Director Ejecutivo

Monday 7 December 2009

Go out and meet nature

Yesterday I woke up in a terrible mood, it was grey, dull weather, I had not slept very well and so on. Frankly I was quite moody. Not the best beginning of a Sunday morning I thought to myself. But since it was not raining at least we ( me and my boyfriend) decided to take the car and drive to a very small mountain not far from our hometown Trollhättan called "Halleberg" and go for a walk. Halleberg

When we came to "Halleberg" we both realized we had never been on this mountain before and didn´t quite know the ways around it, it turned out to be a quite long walk just because we kept going on new paths which led us further and further from where we had started our"little" walk. Which I can feel in my body today; feverish and my cough became worse, but it was totally worth it! Because of nature! My bad mood was swept away as a soft wind as soon as I started walking through the thick and healthy forrest, my smile grew bigger for every breath of fresh ait my lungs inhaled and I felt like I had woken up a second time, this time happy. Nature is fabulous and at least I forget which inpact it has on me when I´m gone from it for too long. So go out and meet nature and heal your soul with the magic from our nature!


Over&Out

Sara

Friday 4 December 2009

The first woman who won the Nobel Prize in literature

Last night I was reading some parts of The Wonderful Adventure of Nils and I found it awesome that tempted me to know more about the author. I found her to be the first women, from Sweden, in the world who got the Nobel Prize in literature.
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf, an internationally acclaimed female author, who won The Nobel prize in literature in1909 for her widely known fairy tale ‘Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige’ (The Wonderful Adventure of Nils) which was written after three years of devoted studies on nature and birds’ life. She was awarded for her "lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception".
She was born on 20th November 1858 in Mårbacka, in the province of Värmland in southern, and spent her childhood there. She had a great passion for reading from childhood and was much more mature than others of her age. She started her journey by taking part in a literary contest which she won and furthered.
She changed the realistic movement and emphasized on imaginative and romantic manner which drew the attention of masses readers; in a nutshell she abolished the border between the dream and reality. Danish translation of her first book Gösta Berlings Saga received wide critical acclaim all over the world and led the way of lasting success. Her later works are Löwensköldska Ringen (1925), Charlotte Löwensköld (1927), and Anna Svärd (1928) [The Ring of the Löwenskölds, 3 vols.]. She also published several volumes of reminiscences under the title Mårbacka (1922-32) that earned fame for her. On 16th March 1940, she died of a stroke at her home. Some of her books became text book in Swedish schools.

......Mousumi

Thursday 3 December 2009

Bombadil Publishing´s official blog now also in Spanish!

Or very first blog in Spanish was published on Monday and it was the Peruvian Lady Maggy Jacinto, mentor and assisting Coordinator for Latin America who wrote from El Salvador, and talked about the wonderful work of our youngest writers.

But I want to shed light on the voyages we are doing in Latin America, Bombadil Publishing is working right now in El Salvador and get contacts with diverse people here which are active in the literature world, people whom help young writers, people whom carry on Bombadil Publishing philosophy, to create communication between young people but between adults too.


The young Spanish writers are many in Latin America now, from Canada to Argentina there are numerous young Bombadilians writing a book with the help of a mentor and together with us developing a great legacy to the world, a legacy of love, hope and faith to future generations, all over the world!

We are very proud to assure that our presence in Latin America will get the results we are looking for, which is to publish books by youth who want to express themselves!
Yesterday was we in a TV channel in El Salvador and we told about our work in Spanish, the TV people was very impressed about our wonderful work, can you imagine? Tom Bombadil has become a celebrity here in El Salvador, because the literature, because the young people whom are writing together with Bombadil Publishing and sent their messages to the young whom want to be a part of our world, a part of the future, a part of the really true wonderful life!

Best regards to Bombadilians all over the world from El Salvador!
Melvin Gonzalez

History of English

The diversity in cultures, customs and norms that had initially taken birth from the five civillizations to become more diverse with the passage of time has been the main cause of the creation of different languages in different corners of the globe alone with different accent of speaking.With the tremendous globalization and theory of wiring the world into a global village the need to accept a common medium of verbal and written communication arose.Among almost over 1000 languages spoken all over the world English was accepted as the common and global language for communication. Inspite of being a young, English had gone through many phases of transformations from the old period to the modern period.English is originally a West Germanic language.During 5th century AD three west Germanic tribes namely the Angles, Saxon and the Jutes invaded Britain.The language of the British people was Celtic language. During these invasions most of the Celtic speakers were pushed to the west and north which comprises of the modern day Wales, Scotland and Ireland.The Angles belonged to Englaland and their language was Englisc from which Englan and English originated.

Old English
Period:-450-1100
Initially Old English comprised of a varied group of dialects representing the origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The original Old English was further influenced and afffected by two invasions-The Scandanavian branch of Germany who conquered parts of Britain in 8th and 9th century followed by the Normans in the 11th century. Ultimately these conquests made English a Mixed and Borrowing language.


The introduction of Christianity added another wave of Latin and some Greek words. The Old English period formally ended with the Norman Conquest, when the language was influenced to an even greater extent by the Norman-speaking Normans. The use of Anglo-Saxon to describe a merging of Anglian and Saxon languages and cultures is a relatively modern development. According to Lois Fundis, "The first citation for the second definition of 'Anglo-Saxon', referring to early English language or a certain dialect thereof, comes during the reign of Elizabeth-I, from a historian named Camden, who seems to be the person most responsible for the term becoming well-known in modern times".There were great differences between today’ english and Old English.English speaking people nowadays will have great problem in understnading them.


Middle English
Period:-1100-1500
In 1066 England was attacked by William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France.He conquered Ebgland. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.

Modern English
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.

Late Modern English (1800-Present)
The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.

Tuesday 1 December 2009

World's AIDS Day: Let's Spread Awareness












"The global HIV/AIDS epidemic is an unprecedented crisis that requires an unprecedented response. In particular it requires solidarity -- between the healthy and the sick, between rich and poor, and above all, between richer and poorer nations. We have 30 million orphans already. How many more do we have to get, to wake up?"
-- Kofi Annan
When obstacles are devastating, applying every possible means is necessary for successful disposal. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) day, marked on 1st December all over the world, is the important movement to generate massive awareness, fighting against prejudice and make all understand the utmost sense of seriousness. Each member of society needs to eliminate the space of ignorance which monstrously escalates risk of getting affected. Regarding this disastrous disease, education has been stressed to get rid of this epidemic man has ever faced. Contaminated needles, unsafe sex, breast feeding and transmission from an effected mother to the baby are the major causes of HIV.
Since its discovery in 1981, HIV has already shown its catastrophic consequences by taking more than 35 million lives between 1981 and 2006 and 2.7 million lives in 2008. At present, HIV, AIDS infects 0.6% of the world’s population. It itself proves that all efforts will go in vain if we don’t take the strongest initiative and precautions to eradicate; active participation from all sections of society is necessary.

.......Mousumi




The first Bombadil blog in Spanish!

Ahora por primera vez en Bombadil Publishing iniciamos nuestro blog en español y yo Maggy Jacinto, Asistente a la Dirección de la Sección en Español, tengo el honor de escribir nuestro primer artículo.

Como ciudadana de un país andino, específicamente Perú y escribiendo desde la República de El Salvador, siento el calor tropical de estos lares, pero siento también el calor humano de los habitantes salvadoreños que se vierte en el contorno sobre nuestra Editorial, la comunicación de Joven a Joven es muy visible en estas calurosas tierras Centroamericanas; pues Bombadil Publishing a recibido con mucho agrado una enorme aceptación de la juventud literaria salvadoreña.
Para hacer mención de lo anterior vemos con mucho beneplácito que se han unido a la revolución de la filosofía Bombadil una buena cantidad de jóvenes escritores salvadoreños, quienes conjuntamente con nuestros mentores esparcidos en toda Latino América están desarrollando muchos manuscritos que a su debido tiempo se convertirán en libros imprimidos en nuestra Editorial.
Estos nuevos bombadilios los podemos ubicar en las ciudades de Ahuachapán, Santa Tecla, San Salvador, San Miguel y en distintas ciudades del salvadoreño departamento de La Libertad.


Pero también es digno de hacer mención que la explosión en español de Bombadil ha alcanzado casi todo el continente americano: Canadá, EEUU, México, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, Perú, Chile y Argentina.
Al mismo tiempo de manifestar nuestra alegría de dar inicio a este blog en español, informamos que una considerable cantidad de libros en español están siendo elaborados y revisados por nuestros mentores y la revolución Bombadil hace posible el sueño de muchos jóvenes latinoamericanos, jóvenes escritores que nunca pensaron que podrían hacer realidad ese sueño.
Desde este blog, envío mis manifestaciones de exhortación a todos nuestros jóvenes bombadilios a continuar con esa loable tarea de comunicarse de joven a joven.

ADELANTE BOMBADILIOS HISPANOS PARLANTES, HAZTE ESCUCHAR A TRAVÉS DE LA LITERATURA.
DE JOVEN A JOVEN.
Maggy Jacinto.