BOOKS AND AUTHORS
D. Anjaneyulu
It might sound rather paradoxical to note the
fact that in the half-century after the departure of the British rulers, there
has been more writing in English than during a similar period before it. Not
only more in volume, but some of it, better in quality as well. As could be
seen from the international prizes awarded for a few of the titles, like “A
Suitable Boy” (Vikram Seth), “The God of Small Things” (Arundhati
Roy); “Harvest” (Manjula Padmanabhan), and many others. Material rewards
no less than media recognition are not wanting.
And yet, there remain quite a few
professional writers and teachers of English, evidently dyspeptic, who are not
reconciled to the growing phenomenon of Indian writing in English (or Indian English
writing). They even doubt the intellectual standards and artistic credentials
of Indian writers in English.
One of these champions of ‘Nativism’ (Dr.
Bhalchandra Nemade), in his well-worn diatribe, dismisses the whole of Indian
English literature as “a clear case of mimicry” and “totally purposeless” and
the fiction part of it as “a kind of tourist fiction”. He seems to have been
passing off the same material in differing forms on different occasions,
without updating the information or even correcting the errors of fact and
judgment.
The cat was let out of the bag by the efforts
of Prof. M.K. Naik (the author of “A History of Indian English Literature”
brought out by Sahitya Akademi). This was done in his essay published in The
Journal of Indian writing in English (Silver Jubilee Special Number),
January-July 1997, edited by Prof. G.S. Balarama Gupta of Gulbarga University.
Prof. Naik has this to say on Prof. Nemade’s
performance:
“A critical scrutiny reveals that far from
being a critical discourse serious and well-argued, it is more or less a tissue
of contradictions, factual errors, deliberate distortions, prejudices parading
as dogmas, sweeping generalisations and extremist stances. The (learned) critic
obviously brings to his subject a mind so hermetically sealed that not a breath
of fresh air can enter in to it”.
In his comprehensive and well-documented
paper on “The Cross-cultural Dimensions of English”, Prof. C.D.
Narasimhaiah, the seasoned scholar-critic says:
“Increasingly there seems to be a greater appreciation in sophisticated circles of the
truth: the fewer the words, the greater the effect – Does it mean that what is
half-said or unsaid has greater import? That is why the Sanskrit grammarian
likened half-a-syllable saved in speech or writing to the birth of a son. Perhaps the reason for the poet’s prayer:
“Teach me to write so well
That I shall no longer want to”
The concept of the ‘unsaid’ has been
cherished in the Indian aesthetic tradition in almost all the languages.
Correspondingly in English as well.
The Silver Jubilee volume has a rich variety
of quality writing-critical
essays, appreciations, poems and a conversation. It is worth preserving by
students of Indian English writing, along with the books on the subject by
Prof. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar and Dr. M.K. Naik.
Dr. Balarama Gupta, the founder-editor, has
been keeping it alive for the last 25 years as a labour of love. There might be a good many literary periodicals, but not many good
periodicals. This is one of the few such, deserving all support.
In defining the scope of Indian English
writing, there is perhaps no need for applying the ethnic criterion too rigidly
as in the caste system for purposes of communal reservation in the services.
There are many not born Indian, who have totally identified themselves with
Indian culture, way of life and thought.
Srimati Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani of the Sri
Kambliswami Matham in Pondicherry (the consort of the late Dr. Swami Gitananda
Giri, the head of the Matham) is one of them. She is a many-sided personality -
danseuse and artist, sadhaka and mystic, among other things. Her poetic
sensibility cannot be fully appreciated, until one had read her latest book of
poems, “A Heart that is Distant” (Satya Press, ICYER, Kottakuppam - 605105, via Pondicherry).
In this collection of poems, elegantly
composed and neatly presented, she gives artistic expression to her spiritual
insights. It reflects her discovery that though she lives amidst a bustling,
noisy world, she really dwells in
the realm of a mystic luminous Inner Silence. In “The Human beens”, she says:
“Man made things stand still, till
decay sets in, then collapse into ugliness
filth”.
Also:
“Here we mark the way we have come,
not by footprints in the sand, but
by signboards proclaiming the virtues
of toilet paper, or the necessity of
underarm deodorants”.
In “Vibhuthi for Mahadeva”, she apostrophises Him
Thus:
“O Lord! was it not cruel of thee!
To create Thy Vibhuti,
Thy sacred ashes,
From our burned-out dreams?”
She satirizes “the Respectable Man”:
“His money is black, his films are blue,
His mistresses are of many a hue.
Money makes the man, buys social-position,
to sell ones soul is an easy decision.
Thus respectability is bought and sold.
In the world’s vast market, it’s based on
gold”
But all is not lost, lost in the dark. There
is hope of light at the end of the tunnel, as could be seen in her concluding
piece:
“A gift from God/to help us cope
with grey dull ambiguity,
That thin and precious/Line of light
On which to stand/Dispelling doubt, dividing
clear,
Right from wrong, day from night
And sea from land”.