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NARRATIVES
187
".....it has been seen and testified to that desires, when they make the aspirant feel that he is weak by himself, end by strengthening him; for only when you feel helpless, will your stubborn ego consent to seek help. And what help could be more reliable than the Divine's?.... But the trouble is that this is just the realisation the ego dreads because it destroys its self
respect, don't you see ?"10
Many letters written by Mala to Asit or Tapan to Mala or Amar to Mala are included in the novel. Letters written by Mala to Asit and Tapan to Mala are very long. While Amar's letters are very brief.
The language of Upward Spiral is poetic. Almost all major characters belong to high aristocratic class. So, their speeches are refined. Proverbs abound in the speeches of Asit and Raka. Asit, for instance, says: 'The only fly in the ointment was Prabal.”!! Referring to Prabal, Raka asks: "For do you think he could mean white when he said white?"12
On the whole, it can be seen that the novelist has elaborately given the details of lives of Mala, Raka and Asit in particular to trace out their spiritual growth. But the modern reader may find it too lengthy and tedious on certain occasions though all the features of a well-built novel, be found in this work.
But, we must remember, Roy is a biographer, not a novelist, although he might use the novel for his biographical and autobiographical purposes. He is excellently successful in his purposes. (B) Miracles Do Still Happen
Miracles Do Still Happen was first published in 1961 as a rendering in English of Dilip Roy's Bengali novel, Aghatan Ajo Ghate. The author has attempted here to focus emphatically on those mystical experiences of a few persons which can be called miraculous. While touching this delicate topic of miracles in the modern age of science, Roy is aware of the diverse interpretations of the term prevalent among people. So, to specify his own definition of miracles, in the "Preface", he explicitly writes that
"...only those miracles which are wrought by Divine Grace to enlighten, remould or transform the nature of an aspirant are most worthy of our attention in that they help our consciousness evolve by purifying us and teaching us to be humble. I care little for the other kind of miracles which are often performed by so many occultists, not to mention jugglers and thaumaturges."13
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