The absorbing parable on self-discovery

By

Randeep Wadehra

But I do nothing upon myself, and yet I am mine own Executioner.

John Donne (1573–1631) English poet. Devotions

The missing rose by Serdar Ozkan
Wisdom Tree. Pages: 192. Price: Rs. 245/-

A person generally has three images – public image, self-image and real image. Often, while the real image remains hidden or dormant, the other two images interact with each other at several levels and influence each other. One tries to project one’s image for public acceptability; in turn, the public opinion influences perceptions regarding one’s self, giving full play to the ego. As long as these two images dominate one’s thought processes, the real image remains ignored. However, owing to a cathartic experience or awakening of the soul the real image manifests itself in all its glory. Once this happens the ego dies and the soul’s inner beauty becomes manifest.

Ephesus is an ancient city in Turkey which houses the Temple of the Greek Goddess Artemis – the twin of Apollo and counterpart of the Roman Goddess Diana. It also has the House of Mother Mary. In this novel, while Artemis and Diana represent the ego, Mary represents the soul even as Ephesus becomes a metaphor for the human body that houses both.  

This is the story of Diana who lives in Rio de Janeiro. She dreams of becoming a writer but is influenced by her peers and trains for becoming a lawyer. In fact she gives immense importance to the opinion of others and shapes her worldview accordingly. In the process she becomes a confused, directionless person. Her mother, while on her deathbed, confesses of having given birth to Maria, Diana’s twin. Diana is also informed of letters written by her twin-sister. Thereafter she has strange encounters with a fortune-telling beggar and a painter of seascapes. All these experiences send Diana on a journey to Istanbul, which turns out to be a strange spiritual experience for her. There are roses that talk. One particular flowerpot has twin roses – black and pink – signifying ego and soul respectively. There is another named Socrates that becomes accessible only to the evolved souls.

The “missing rose” may be interpreted at the material level as a symbol of Diana’s twin Maria, who participates only through the three letters and is never present in person. However, at the philosophical/spiritual level the “missing rose” may be taken for the absence of true perception and in a sense the absence of “soul” in our day to day living. Our prejudices, greeds and worldly ambitions prevent us from looking at the cosmos as one united whole. Once the missing rose is discovered the scales fall from our eyes. We are able to understand the superficiality of prejudices, greeds and worldly ambitions. We are able to gain knowledge (no matter in what manner or quantum) of the cosmic purpose; of the soul’s unity with the rest of the creation. This is the path that Diana would eventually take:

I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,
And nothing, but God, is greater to one than one’s self is.

Walt Whitman (1819–92) US poet. Song of Myself

The narrative is absorbing. The gradual manner in which Diana sheds her ego (“kills” her “self”) and rediscovers her true self impels one to read the book from first page to the last.

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