''Scrap Book'', formally published as ''Govardhanrám Madhavrám Tripáthi's Scrap Book'', is a diary written by Indian writer Govardhanram Tripathi from 1885 to 1906. It is a repository of the author's wide-ranging thoughts, including on moral and spiritual conflicts. It provides many details about Govardhanram's life and family.

Background

Govardhanram obtained his

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in 1883 after repeated failures, and moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

in 1884 to practice as a

pleader A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case. History Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...

at high court. In January 1885, when he was 30, he started writing ''Scrap Book''. He noted in it important points and quotations from books that he read. He wrote in the diary till 3 November 1906, a few months before his death. It is believed that Govardhanram maintained a personal diary also, but this has not been found. Originally spanning seven notebooks, it was edited by Kantilal Pandya, Sanmukhlal Pandya, and

Ramprasad Bakshi Ramprasad Premshankar Bakshi (27 June 1894 – 22 March 1989) was a Gujarati writer, scholar, translator and editor from India. He was a student of Anandshankar Dhruv and Narsinhrao Divetia, and was appointed the president of Gujarati Sahitya Pari ...

and published in three volumes from 1957 to 1959. Bakshi published an abridged version in

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

titled ''Govardhanram Ni Manannondh''.

The subjects of the ''Scrap Book'' can be divided in three sections: (1) Govardhanram's speculations and comments on Hindu religio-philosophical texts and concepts; (2) his views on contemporary socio-political issues, issues, institutions and leaders; and (3) problems, resentments and pain in his personal life as the head of

Hindu joint family Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

. The notes in the ''Scrap Book'' include Govardhanram's personal comments on a wide range of subjects including his personal problems, his nature, emotions, ideals, the problem of his retiring from the active life, Sannyas and Yoga, family life and its problems, perception on the soul, God, life after death, virtue, immorality, bliss, astrology, his own writings, and contemporary events.

Reception

Tridip Suhrud Tridip Suhrud (born 19 December 1965) is an Indian writer, political scientist, cultural historian and translator from Gujarat, India. Life Suhrud was born in 1965 in Anand, Gujarat. He completed a Master of Arts in Economics and Political Scien ...

's assessment, ''Scrap Book'' was outstanding among Indian self-focused compositions that elaborate on the themes and the quest of the medieval Bhakti tradition, giving, perhaps for the first time, a vernacular version of the idea that the

self The self is an individual as the object of that individual’s own reflective consciousness. Since the ''self'' is a reference by a subject to the same subject, this reference is necessarily subjective. The sense of having a self—or ''selfhoo ...

is an experimental locus, where what is recorded, the outer and inner worlds, while fusing in the self can simultaneously be disentangled to create separate dimensions. The most exemplary modern expression of the paradox was, he added,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

's autobiography. Scholars including

Uttamlal Trivedi Uttamlal Keshavlal Trivedi () (16 December 1872 – 9 December 1923) was a Gujarati writer and translator from India. Biography Uttamlal Trivedi was born on 16 December 1872 at Ahmedabad in British India. After passing matriculation examination ...

and

Balwantray Thakore Balwantray Kalyanray Thakore ( gu, બળવંતરાય કલ્યાણરાય ઠાકોર) (23 October 1869 – 2 January 1952), popularly known as B. K. Thakore ( gu, બ.ક.ઠાકોર), was a poetry teacher and one of the gre ...

have extensively used these observations while writing on Govardhanram.

References

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Background

Contents

Reception

References

External links