________________
88
A LOVER OF LIGHT AMONG LUMINARIES : Dilip Kumar Roy There were differences between the two also. Romain Rolland, being a senior artist to Roy, obviously, appears to be more mature, balanced and confident in his judgements on any topic. But it seems that Roy lacks maturity and balanced judgement. He does not seem to be sure of anything. Moreover, Rolland is genuinely sensitive to the beauty of art and spirituality, wherever it appears. But it seems that Dilip Roy is slightly and often unconsciously, a Hindu nationalist, assuming that whatever is Indian, is greater than whatever is Western. This is evident in his views of the 'superiority' of Indian music to Western music. It is indeed a negative feature frowned upon nine centuries ago by Alberuni, the Arab scholar, and criticized by Tagore and Nirad Chaudhuri. Obviously, Rolland's internationalism of art and wisdom is healthier than Dilip Roy's. 2. Bertrand Russell
One of the brief sketches by Dilip Roy is of Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), the most famous of the twentieth century philosophers.
Bertrand Russell's outstanding intellectual achievements in various fields remained quite astonishing and influential. He came from a highly aristocratic background. His grandfather, Lord John Russell became twice the prime minister of England. He became the 1s! Earl Russell; and Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell. All of Bertrand Russell's actions were guided by his deep human concern. He was a liberal anarchist and a left wing sceptical atheist. In his initial career he wrote books on logic and mathematics which had deep influence upon the Western philosophy. Then, his books on morals, religion, politics, education, pacifism and other subjects enlightened and encouraged the rebellious common people of the West. During the final stage of his life he very actively opposed the manufacture of H-bombs and the war in Vietnam. Hence, again, his movement became a source of inspiration to idealistic youth throughout the world. He received the Order of Merit in 1949 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. He was respected increasingly all over the world. Some of his well-known works on varied subjects are: Principles of Mathematics, The Problems of Philosophy, The Philosophy of Pacifism, Why I Am Not a Christian, Has Man a Future?, Principles of Social Reconstruction, On Education, Marriage and Morals, German Social Democracy, The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism, Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare, The Scientific Outlook, History of Western Philosophy, etc. (A) Portrait:
Dilip Roy has paid his tribute to Bertrand Russell in three of his books. In Among the Great he shows how the Russellian philosophy was influential to those young people like himself who were studying at the Cambridge University. His later conversations with Russell which took place in 1920 are recorded in the
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org