''The hero of my tale, whom I love with all the power of my soul, whom I have tried to portray in all his beauty, who has been, is, and will be beautiful, is Truth''.

These are the words of the master, Tolstoy, and i dont think can anyone in the least contradict this in any of His works, and that is an open challenge... What the hell, does the world accepts or rejects, does it matter, would it have mattered to him??
This happened to Kafka, this happened to Proust, this did to Dostoevsky... what world do we talk about? If these people had danced to the tunes of the world, what would have been produced would not have been of this stature, everlasting and priceless. that would have been a trifling piece of muck that today abounds in so called literary circles.

Presenting truth blatantly, in a form that may be undigestible, to those who want it be given in a sugary coating and dished out in a palatable fashion, if that is what is called didactism, then Tolstoy be didactic, its more wonderful that way. If shunning the hypocritical, frivolous, fickle world and stressing upon a conscientious bearing as well as to strive towards a higher, deeper meaning of life is what is called being too moralistic, Moralistic tolstoy is great too...

See what we have done to the world... We still fight wars without any ends to attain, on flimsy ground, on nationalism, regionalism, religionism or on what not 'ism's pretext.

In the words of Dostoevsky ...
'At least if civilization has not made man more bloodthirsty, it has certainly made him viler in his thirst for blood than he was before. Before, he saw justice in bloodshed and massacred, if he had to, with a quiet conscience; now, although we consider bloodshed an abomination, we engage in it more than ever... Which is worst ?? '

Tolstoy's words shout out loud (have always done), ever since they were conceived. They ridicule war in all its forms and pretexts and bring out the hypocrisy surrounding all Human actions that result in conflict. They exhort us to listen to the voice within and not merely enact the parts that our camouflage in the society insists us to perform. Aren't we turning all deaf, consumerist, materialistic, maniacs bent on paving the ways to self anhilation and our arrogance doesnt allow a space for Tolstoy... who we give no second thought in shunning by labeling him as outdated or what not. But the truth in his words still hold the same weight they did 100 years ago and will do so for 100 more to come, cos all our development is external and our inner being still strives for peace, craves for the satiation that nothing external can provide but a journey that Tolstoy's words exhort us to make... THE JOURNEY WITHIN...