BY T. RAGHAVA

People say that the old order has changed. A friend of mine tells me that now he walks with his head thrown back a little, his chest thrown forward a bit, and the air he breathes feels a little more bracing than before. It is true that there appears to be a general bustle of packing and unpacking round about, and a movement which sings the song of "Go ahead." The chain is still there; but I feel that the orbit of movement is a bit widened. The parole still binds but the ray of freedom is distinctly sighted in the distance. A good deal of struggle is necessary to reach it. Perfect discipline should be maintained; for it is a movement of the millions. Food and strength, endurance and non-violence, are required, to overcome the side-tracking demons. Plenty of self-confidence is necessary to achieve success.

The millions have been deprived of their freedom of thought and action for centuries. Alien philosophy, alien culture backed by alien rule, have coloured us with the inferiority complex out and out. Our arts and aspirations have almost ceased to grow for a thousand years or more, owing to lack of proper nourishment. The vile fingers of a degenerate priest-craft started the strangulation game. Sri Krishna used his Chakra (discus) to cover the light of the day, that Arjuna might kill Saindhava. Priest-craft hid the light of the day from our masses that they may be bled to feed the high and the mighty. The noose devised by the priest-craft was for obvious reasons taken advantage of by the invaders. It was unfortunate that the narrow-minded puritanism of some of the invaders destroyed our fine arts. Self-expression was choked. The creative instinct was almost killed. The mind was starved. The multitude walked about without cheer and almost without hope. Slave-mentality took possession of the people. It is not bread alone that sustains man. He requires freedom to grow and discover himself. It is the freedom of the mind that fertilises the creative capacity in him and helps him to achieve the glory of self-expression, unrestricted. The bigotry of the priest-craft on one side, the tyranny of alien philosophy on the second side, the distortion of educational ideals by the Government on the third side, and the deplorable selfishness of the home-made imperialist on the fourth, succeeded in extinguishing the fire of freedom. This has gone on for centuries. We are now in a sorry plight indeed. The true artistic spark in us is eternal; but it is buried under heaps and heaps of the ashes of superstition and ignorance.

It is the duty of society and much more so of the Government to discover that spark in our millions and revive the same. That would pave the way for artistic and cultural progress. Such progress, however, depends to a large extent on a careful and scientific disciplining and development of the emotional nature. The true aim of art is to construct a Setu (bridge) between the seen and the unseen, by patiently trying to interpret the natural as well as the supernatural by the very effective method of identifying oneself with Nature in all its aspects. The manhood in man and the womanhood in woman can be realised only when the desire for Art and Beauty is awakened in them. With such awakening, a raging impetus to rush forward to the portals of the aesthetic world naturally takes possession of the initiate. Then a keen desire to travel through the world of emotions is created.

Bertrand Russell says that it is only through a life of imagination man becomes aware of what the world might be and that, without it, progress would become mechanical and trivial. It is necessary therefore that a human being, in order to rise above a mechanised existence, should enjoy a life of imagination and travel through the world of emotions. The fine arts therefore assume a great importance in the scheme of education. On a careful analysis of all the several kinds of human urges, it is easy to conclude that the urge to strive after the useful and the urge to strive after the beautiful do unite to produce the same results, viz., the growth of man and the progress of society. Both urges find abundant nourishment in the world of emotions, which exists to teach people how to assign their proper values to pleasure and pain and to reach the portals of the higher life.

A travel, therefore, through the world of emotions is essential for the progress of man. Such a travel, however, requires careful equipment before the journey starts. Mysterious are its labyrinthine passages and turnings. It is like the famous Padma Vyuha which engulfed Abhimanyu, because he knew to get into it only, and not how to get out of it. The physical limitations of a human being easily mislead him to assign wrong values to the artistic environment which he finds in this mysterious world. He begins to cling to things. He should therefore be taught to break away from things before he starts on his journey through the aesthetic world. It is this capacity to break away from things that can give him glimpses of a still higher and spiritual life.

The traveller should consequently be educated by a loving heart and guided by a firm hand. A correct taste for music, painting, the stage and such other things should be instilled into him at the very outset. Love of music and love of the fine arts in general are inherent in the make-up of all human beings. It is quite natural for a human being to turn to music and the stage for enjoyment; as it is natural for him to seek food. The food for the mind should be more carefully chosen than the food for the body. Indulgence in bad food for the body results in indigestion and the weakening of the physical condition. Similarly indulgence in bad food for the mind impairs its development and arrests its expansion. A society which cannot provide proper food for the development of man’s mind cannot be said to be functioning healthily.

The present-day places of amusement, especially the stage and the cinema, stupefy man’s mind instead of developing it. Every intelligent Indian feels it; but he is unable to help the situation. The love of stories from the Mahabharata, Bhagavata and Ramayana runs in the very blood of the Hindus. Consequently, the poor villager rushes from far and near to the stage or the screen, to see his old heroes of the epics. Money is spent for it, and what is the return he gets for all his pains? Unwholesome caricatures are served as food. The veriest apology for a human being appears on the stage or the screen as Vishnu, Siva, Rama, Narada, Anjaneya or any one of those several mythological beings connected with the stories of our puranic gods; and at once the auditorium reaches the boiling point of enthusiasm with wild cheers and clapping of hands. The man or woman who presents the mythological part may look like a gargoyle, may bellow like a bull, or may sing like a cat with catarrh–but the audience have no eye or ear for such defects. The villager appears to be satisfied, because he is predisposed in favour of his heroes; and the garb in which the said heroes appear on the screen cannot shake the villager’s love for them. I am reminded of what a friend of mine once told me, that he could relish any bad coffee, because he could, while swallowing the bad coffee, imagine and enjoy the taste of a good cup of coffee he had had once before. The exploiter, in whose hands the entire business of the screen and the stage now rests, trades upon this simple yet glorious element of faith in the poor villager. The exploiter grows opulent and corpulent, while the villager sticks to his quagmire of superstition. Most of our so-called educated people as well are, I am afraid, sailing in the same boat. Would it not be worth while to give a new interpretation–a more rational and intelligent interpretation–and thus enlighten the masses to perceive a better and freer life, free from all shackles of superstition and ignorance? In my humble opinion, this could be easily done and the love of the epics itself be shaped into a dynamic force for the cultural progress of our masses.

Did I say that it is rumoured that the old order has changed? Yes. The new order is facing grim facts. Its look is concentrated on the dumb millions who are ill-clothed, almost nil fed and suffering mutely. The first step is undoubtedly to find food and clothes for them, and to free them from the toils of indebtedness. Simultaneously, however, their mental possessions should be enlarged and they should be taught to develop a life of imagination, to appreciate the glory of life. This item should be considered in the re-organization scheme. The idea of education as a means to procure passes–pure and simple–should be knocked on the head. The present system of education has played havoc upon the finished product as well. It is so costly that 95 per cent of the parents must sell their lands like Roderigo to help their sons to win the love of educational Desdemonas. After the career in the schools and colleges is finished, the race for appointment starts. This is a veritable sack and hurdle race. At the winning post stand the commissioners of communalism. Even after a winning, the educated young man starts life with starving children clinging to his side, clamorous creditors clogging his footsteps and the restless demon of insecurity prodding him from behind. He finds that he has no cheer in life. He cannot equip himself with the requisite mental possession to create an atmosphere of cheer amidst any surroundings, for the simple reason that the education he has received is only of the rasam-sadam (Indian equivalent for bread and butter) type. He runs into debt recklessly, begets children heedlessly, and cries to all the 33 crores of gods to help him, in vain. I am afraid this is the type of life which thousands of our so-called educated young men are obliged to lead. A thorough re-organization therefore is necessary. A small digression here may be pardoned. The Government will have to consider not twice but twenty times before the salaries of the teaching staff are cut. To deny decent food to the very people who have to provide food (mental, moral and intellectual) for the young mind may not be a wise policy.

No re-organization scheme however could be complete without reckoning the factor of the masses. The idea of a mass contact can become successful only by having institutions for educating and developing the mass mind. The mass mind should be educated and elevated to shun vulgar superstitions, despise gross habits like drink, cultivate a sense of proportion, to avoid waste, and lastly to keep themselves clear from the poisonous contamination of indebtedness. I believe that this can be best done by provoking the real artistic talent which is inherent in the mass mind.

Art and simplicity go together. Good music and good pictures conduce considerably to plain living and high thinking. There may be exceptional cases. Let us ignore them. Drama teaches the lesson of self-control. Books and schools may give the student glimpses of a beautiful life, but it is the fine arts that can enable him to enjoy that life and thereby lead him to the heights of a triumphant life, the life of the spirit. Schools and Patasalas are necessary, and so are places of instruction, where the mass mind can be taught to realise a correct taste for good art. It is a fact that at present our theatres and picture-houses by themselves occupy a prominent place in our world of art. The Government could easily obtain figures and facts to discover how much public money is spent on them. It is a considerable amount, though not as big as the amount that is spent on drink. Is it not the duty of the Government to ascertain whether these theatres and cinemas are really places for the development of the mass mind, or really toddy shops for the stupefaction of the mass mind? To take cudgels against such places where the mass mind is deliberately stupefied is as necessary as to take cudgels against toddy shops, because both the places cater only to the lower half of the human being, not to mention their rousing criminal instincts in him.

It is well known that the original purpose of our drama was to impart knowledge to the masses in a kindergarten fashion, for provoking thought in them, for holding up a mirror to society that it may correct its errors and for inculcating principles of detachment in the actor as well as in the spectator. In the ancient days they were veritable halls of instruction which gave strength to the finer threads of the human fabric. The present state of affairs is regrettable. Without fear of any challenge it can be said now that our theatres and picture-halls exist only for the benefit of the exploiter and for obscurantism. The toddy producer is a saint compared to most of our drama producers and film producers at present. The sooner the Government attends to this matter and reforms our theatres and cinema halls for the production of dramas of real artistic and real educational value, the better it will be for the progress of our masses.

The schools and colleges are generally beyond the reach of the masses. Theatres and cinemas can admirably complement such work for the benefit of the masses. The problem of adult education in villages will not then present formidable difficulties. After all, the cost of such a task to the Government may not be noticeable.

When the mass mind wakens to the bugle call of real art, the millions will get ready for the onward march with an ennobled and purified outlook. They will shed all that spelt vulgarity, all that made them heavy and unwieldy. Drink and an inartistic life would be abandoned. Clothes of ignominy would be flung far away, and khaddar and Swadeshi (flowers of artistic toil) would be worn in glory and splendour. All burdens including debts would be avoided, for the hiker trekking forward would choose to throw off the ever-expanding load of debt. Art would teach the marching soldiers to simplify their lives and keep themselves above want. They would regain the courage which lies buried under centuries of poverty and indebtedness. Then the march forward would be a resplendent cultural progress of the Indian nation.

In my humble opinion every Union, every Municipality, and every District Board should encourage a theatre or a cinema hall which can afford to place goods of real artistic and educational value within the easy reach of our villagers. In short, the Government must definitely recognize that our theatres and cinema-halls are regular places of instruction to the masses, and with a firm hand start the work of their reformation. Bad art must go. No producer should be allowed to take the people’s money by catering to their ignorance and depravity. The globe is a planet travelling round the sun to our students in schools. But the play-wright insists on demonstrating to the masses that the earth is flat and rests upon a giant snake. Wholesome moral precepts are taught in schools, but the student goes to the theatre and cinema to learn that our very gods and heroes indulge in acts of indecent behaviour, abduction, rape and what not. I have no hesitation in saying that our present places of entertainment are proving obstacles in the way of the progress of the masses. I know there is a school of thought, which stands up for entertainment and recreation for their own sake. It is true that a human being requires recreation, but be it noticed that the very word suggests that one should feel recreated after it, i.e., re-equipped for better work. The word ‘entertainment’ is as misunderstood as the word ‘pleasure.’ Are we prepared to accept a tickling of the lower sense as entertainment? Could a representation of the unnatural and the grostesque be called a real entertainment? They may be funny for a time. The question, however, is whether our poverty stricken country and our poor villagers can afford to waste money over such things. Mahatmaji’s eye is now turned towards the race course and the gambling hall. Why not our Premier’s eye turn towards the Picture Palace?

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