Puppet mimics poet Marquez, leaves friends outraged

Puppet mimics poet Marquez, leaves friends outraged
SANTANU BANERJEE

CALCUTTA, SEPT 3: ``If for an instant God should forget that I am a puppet and were to give me another piece of life, possibly I wouldn't say what I think, but I would certainly think all that I say.''

A Spanish poem, La Marioneta (The Marionette), which begins with these evocative lines and appeared in several Latin American newspapers and a Delhi-based daily last month has turned out to be a literary hoax. It was said to have been written by Colombia's terminally-ill Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez as a farewell gift to his friends worldwide and landed in noted Director Mrinal Sen's mail box in the last week of July.

``I would sleep little and dream more, because I understand that for every minute that we close our eyes, we lose sixty seconds of light,'' it read.

Sen had then been overwhelmed with emotion; today he is crestfallen. According to a report datelined Mexico City on the Reuter's website on August 23, Marquez never wrote the poem. It was penned by an obscure ventriloquist, Johnny Welch, for his puppet sidekick, Mofile.

Feeling rather let down over his literary work not being acknowledged -- ``I am not a writer,'' he confessed -- Welch told Mexico's InfoRed radio, according to the report: ``I am feeling the disappointment of someone who has written something and is not getting the credit.''

The poem had been sent to 70-odd people by an Argentine woman, Cristina Marchesse from Santa Fe in Argentina, said to be the poet's friend. Sen recalled: ``The letter said that Marquez is critically-ill and he wants his newly-composed poem to be sent all over the world.'' A list of names of other recipients of the same letter was attached.

``I picked up three names from the list and sent them messages wanting to know from them more about it. But till now I haven't received a word, not even from the sender,'' said Sen.

He now refuses to comment on the issue, saying ``It doesn't merit any attention''. He is hurt. ``Now I know that all this is a big hoax. If what I now hear is true, I must say it's a cruel hoax on such a grave issue.''

Sen, who has known Marquez for 20 years, says: ``All I can do is to pray for Marquez's speedy recovery.'' Asked if he would take some action, he retorted, ``Why should I? If you want, you can protest.''