Govindas Vishnoodas Desani (1909–2000), known as G.V. Desani, was a British-Indian writer and educator. He was born in Kenya, reared in India and achieved prominence in Great Britain. Desani is best known for his 1948 book All About H. Hatterr, which cast an absurdist, comedic spotlight on the plight of common man in a multicultural, pan-ethnic world.
Hatterr is notable for reviews over half a century which describe the book as … a genuine literary rarity, "the lost-and-found masterpiece," "a lost classic", and, of the author, an "elusive talent of the Fifties."
Post 40, Desani forged a second act as a seeker, devotee, adept, reporter and profounder of ancient Indian traditions — including obscure mantric and tantric crafts — to Eastern and Western audiences.
Bibliography
All About H. Hatterr
The 1948 publication of Desani's mock-heroic novel, with its high-velocity West-East patterings, attracted widespread attention. T.S. Eliot said of it, "… In all my experience, I have not met with anything quite like it. It is amazing that anyone should be able to sustain a piece of work in this style and tempo at such length." Orville Prescott, in a mixed review in The New York Times wrote, "... To describe a rainbow to a child born blind would not be much more difficult than to describe the unique character of All About H. Hatterr ... as startling as a unicorn in the hall bedroom. Reading it issues dizzy spells, spots before the eyes, consternation, and even thought." Four decades later Salman Rushdie wrote "Hatterr's dazzling, puzzling, leaping prose is the first genuine effort to go beyond the Englishness of the English language."
Hali: A Play
Desani's Hali: A Play was published and performed in 1950. It was described by Eliot as "completely different from Hatterr." Eliot — along with E.M. Forster – provided forewords to the 55-page lyrical tragedy. Eliot called Hali's imagery "... often terrifyingly effective," while Forster wrote, "... it keeps evoking heights above the 'Summit-City' of normal achievement." Other comments were less enthusiastic. Eliot added, "Hali is not likely to appeal quickly to the taste of many readers." And Forster observed, "It depends upon a private mythology – a dangerous device."
Hali and short stories
In 1991, Hali was re-published in Hali and Collected Stories.
Biography
Desani was born in Kenya into an Indian family that had a general store, specializing in wood fuel. The family moved back to Sindh (now part of Pakistan) when he was about eight. Desani described himself as a rebellious child. He ran away from home three times and was, at the age of 13, expelled from school. Fleeing an arranged marriage, Desani at age 15 or 16 caught a steamer for the UK.
He arrived in England speaking only Hindi but within a few years had mastered English to the point that he was befriended by several prominent Londoners. For example, he was recommended by George Lansbury MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, for admission as a reader to the British Museum Library.
Career
In the 1930s Desani worked as a film extra, an artists' model and as a correspondent for The Times of India, Reuters and the Associated Press, among others, contributing from both Great Britain and India. During World War II, Desani lectured in both English and Hindustani for the British Ministry of Information and the Imperial Institute. He was also a regular commentator on the BBC. Recalling his popularity as a lecturer during the war, Anthony Burgess wrote, "Desani came to England, in fact, to demonstrate in live speech the vitality of the British rhetorical tradition, brilliant in Burke and Macaulay, decadent in Churchill, now dead."
Search for Spiritual Knowledge
Decades later, Desani recounted how — despite his achievements — he was increasingly unhappy. In 1952 he returned to India where he sought out a series of gurus and fakirs. These teachers, typically residing in rural India, assigned him arduous disciplines, often requiring months of intense Sādhanā.
Desani spent most of 1960 in Rangoon (now Yangon) practicing Samatha-vipassana under meditation master Mahasi Sayadaw. Upon completion, he was asked to address the Burmese diplomatic corps on Buddhist ethics and techniques. The meeting took place at the Israeli embassy, Justice U Chan Htoon presiding.
Social and political commentary
From 1962-67 Desani contributed often to The Illustrated Weekly of India. His articles included short stories, and commentary on Indian social and cultural issues, ethics, religion and occultism. An unsigned weekly column entitled "Very High & Very Low" ran from 1964-66.