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Divine Dwellers in the Desert: by Gurdial Mallik. Nalanda Publications, Bombay. Demy 8-vo size. Pp. 80. Rs. 3-12-0.

The book embodies a series of Extension Lectures delivered by the author at Viswabharathi in the year 1933 on the Mystics of Sindh, the Sufi poets who dwelt in the desert.

The essential principles of Sufism are explained at the outset briefly but with admirable clarity. Sufism, we are told, is based on the recognition of the Divine Unity at the heart of the universe. In its positive aspect it is a yearning for harmony with the all in its negative aspect it manifests itself in non-conformity, a refusal to limit the limitless, God, within the four walls of the temple or the creed and ritual of an organised religion. The emphasis is on Divine Love which is only another term for deliverance out of one’s narrow self, to be realised here and now in our human world, through perception of beauty and cultivation of fellowship with all aspects and expressions of life. The futility of mere learning, the uniqueness of the individual and the widest tolerance are the obvious corollaries and solitude, contact with Nature, control of passions and desires, sorrow and suffering are the aids to the discipline of realisation.

But this is no sin, the author himself points out, no new offsprint of Islam, no original gift of Persia to the world. It is as old as man. It is the Perennial Philosophy. Yet it is so heartening to note the existence of this philosophy not as a mere philosophy and tradition but as a practised discipline and real influence in the life of the people of the great religion of Islam, through the centuries.

This exposition of the essentials of Sufism is followed by a sketch of its history in the fertile soil of Sindh, an abridged edition of the history of India, a miniature guest house of cultures. But the author is no historian and after the interesting story of the first Sufi settle down in Sind (1350) Usman Shah of Baghdad, the history is practically given up and he raises and answers the question ‘What these Sufis of Sindh taught?’ with profuse quotation from their poems and songs and parallel passages from the writings of Emerson, A. E. and Tagore, ‘The Sufi of Santiniketan.’

Separate sections are devoted to Shah Latif the greatest mystic poet of Sindh (1693-1752) and Sachet (1750 to 1829) and song of a few others of the 19th century are briefly referred to in one short section.

The approach to the subject is neither that of a philosopher nor that of a historian. The author professedly endeavours to take the reader into the very heart of the people of Sindh, through the songs of their most popular poets. Himself unmistakably a mystic and a poet, he makes his points always by preference with the help of poem and song, anecdote and epigram and the style is all through chaste and poetic. He refuses to interpret or point out the moral of the stories of Sunhi and Mahar or Punhu and Sasai which he narrates so beautifully to illustrate the lyrical flame of Latif or a reference in a song of Sachel. He believes so implicitly in the spiritual influence upon simple folk of an interesting story rendered through the song of a mystic poet.

The last section of the book on “Some of the Mystics I have met” is the most attractive of all and gives us three great experiences of his in the manner of great art, so artless and artistic at the same time. The book is a very valuable introduction not only to the Sufis of Sindh and Sufism but also to mysticism in general and–to the personality of the author.

Bapu’s Letters to Mira (1924-48). Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad. Cr. 8-vo size. Rs. 4-0-0

It was an accident, a result of time and circumstance, that such a large share of the attention and energy of Gandhiji was devoted to the historic struggle for the political independence of his country, historic chiefly by his leadership and the methods employed under his leadership. But he was essentially a man of Religion, a seeker of Truth, a believer in the supremacy of the Spirit and the perfectibility of man. And in all this and likewise in his emphasis on Sadhana, his grim determination to realise here and now in this modern world with all its new problems the fundamental spiritual unity of the universe he is in the true tradition of the ancient sages of our holy land.

Gandhiji was a Sadhaka all through his life and his life was a series of deliberate Experiments with Truth, a record of which up to 1921 he has left us in his own words in his Autobiography. In ‘Bapu’s Letters to Mira’ we find as it were a reflection of the last 23 years of his life, not the grand outer life seen by all but the inner personal life which ran its balanced even course of spiritual search undeterred by all the turmoils of the outer world.

It was in 1923 Miss Slade happened to read Romain Rolland’s book on ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ and at once felt the call to dedicate her life to the ideals of the great man. In 1924, after due preparation for the change, she came over to India, became an inmate of the Sabarmati Ashram and an adopted child of Gandhiji. It was a case of deliberate choice on her part, after a study of his ideals from a distance and an equally deliberate acceptance on the part of Gandhiji of the responsibility of guiding her along the path of spiritual progress. ‘You shall be my daughter’ he said and rechristened her Mira. He wanted her to be ‘a perfect woman’, ‘his first heir and representative’ ‘to work out his ideals to greater perfection than was given to him to do.’

The story of this fascinating spiritual romance is presented to us unconsciously in a unique literary form, in the volume under review which contains a selection of 386 out of the 650 letters she received from him from time to time during the period 1925 to 1947. The correspondence was regularly and continuously maintained throughout except when they were together, which was not often and not for long–intentionally–after the first few years. The letters are interspersed with the briefest possible notes here and there to enable the reader to understand the context and the references in the contents. “There is no question of literary style or philosophical flights. It is the most simple, direct and intimate teaching of a spiritual father to his tumbling child.”

But so intimate and direct was the teaching, so loving and patient, so stern and severe too was the teacher (‘It was no joke to be his daughter’) and withal so regardful of the individuality of the pupil that we are not surprised to find the pupil declaring at the end ‘Bapu’s love has at last led me out upon the upper pastures where God’s peace fills the sweet mountain air.’

The book is an invaluable contribution to Gandhian literature and boon to all lovers of Gandhiji’s memory, all students of his ideals, all seekers for guidance on the path of spiritual endeavour and also to all connoisseurs of the art of literary biography through letters. Almost every page contains gems of spiritual truth sparkling with the brilliance of Gandhiji’s inimitable style born of utter sincerity.

– M.S.K.

Glimpses into our Problems After Independence by K. R. Veeraswamy, Secunderabad. Cr. 8-vo size. Pp. 112. Rs. 2-8-0.

The achievement of Indian independence has given rise to a series of problems–political, social and economic–which have been arresting the attention of our statesmen for the last three years, demanding speedy and satisfactory solution. Mr. Veeraswamy, who has done yeoman service already as a constructive worker highly interested in the cause of the elevation of the depressed and the downtrodden, has analysed carefully the burning problems and offered his own valuable views thereon. His observations on National Education, India in the world picture. Problem of the belly, Civil liberty, The Underdog and the remedies suggested by him after careful thought deserve a sympathetic and patient consideration at the hands of ministers in charge of the respective portfolios in the different States. His style is lucid perspicuous and quite characteristic of a writer of balanced views sound judgments. His book though small in size is rich in content and provocative of serious thoughts calculated to promote the happiness and well-being of the teeming millions of our Independent India. His dedication of the brochure with affection, love and reverence to Sri Ramanand Tirtha, the great leader of reawakened Hyderabad, is praiseworthy. We commend this valuable publication for the perusal of all young men, interested in doing national reconstruction work.

– C. B. K

TELUGU

Tara Toranamu by Nanduri Ramakrishnamacharya, Vijnana Prabhasa, Bhimavaram. (West Godavari Dt.) Imp. 8 vo size. Pp. 82 Rs. 1-8-0.

This volume of 27 fine lyrics, a poetic garland of stars, announces the advent of a new bright star on the poetic horizon of Andhra.

The title-piece is the third in the series and presents the poet’s characteristic conception of the universe as the work of an artist, the stars standing for the garland of flowers at the gate of His Palace of Art, suggesting but vaguely though impressively to our limited illiterate minds the depths of His meaning and His joy. In this and about half a dozen other equally fine lyrics the poet achieves the artistic expression of specific imaginative moods of considerable variety–in Sakshatkaramu, Niriksha, Vayaswini, Venugithi.

In some of the shorter lyrics Pipritchcha, Thoduneeda, Pushpabana vilasam striking, single ideas are presented in brilliant poetic form and telling language. This element of intellectuality naturally leads to systematic philosophising in several other pieces of the collection–in Sukta vasantumu, Ananda sruti, Om Santissanti. The philosophy is naturally the philosophy of beauty and joy, and peace and love, the philosophy of a young poet in Gandhi’s India.

But the author is at his best in Sakuntala Nirgamanamu, Ajgnatha Kowntheyamu and especially Seerna Mekhala –where he handles beautifully and powerfully famous themes and incidents of classical literature. The powers revealed here of subtle characterisation, dramatic presentation, careful building up of the elements, step by step, of a complex situation are really remarkable. Seerna Mekhala deserves particular mention as the theme–of Duryodhana’s implicit faith in the loyalty of his friend, instantaneous understanding, and noble and graceful bearing when he finds Karna and his own wife Bhanumathi in an apparently compromising situation–is quite unfamiliar to the Telugus.

Some of the lyrics are songs, poems in metrical patterns definitely designed for musical rendering and here and there we come across colloquial word forms and lines of broken and irregular rhythm with no clear justification and no gain in beauty or power thereby, perhaps the marks of modernity and freedom. But in general the diction is sweet and musical and the versification is smooth and regular, the poetry on the whole of a high order of excellence.

Collected Poems of Pemmarazu Lakshmipathi: Edited by A. Nagagopala Rao, Padma Publications, Ellore. Cr. 8-vo size. Pp. 80 Rs. 1-8-0.

The poems of Sri P. Lakshmipathi were quite familiar to the readers of the Telugu literary journal Bharathi during the Nineteen Thirties. His place among the great poets of modern Andhra was well recognised and so early as 1937 a full length appreciation of his Vasantam appeared in the pages of Triveni under the caption “A Poet of the Spring.” It is a great pity that the attempts of his loyal and loving friend Sri Nagagopala Rao, a promising poet, to publish his poems in book form could prove successful only after the demise of the poet in 1943, at the early age of 44. Tholakari (The first rains) dealing with Nature and the tiller of the soil whose life is closely interwoven with nature, was published in 1944 and “The Collected Poems” in 1948.

The volume of “Collected Poems” contains three long poems in narrative form -Pranayarpanam, Bali and Poli and a set of nine lyrical poems entitled Grishmam. Grishmam is only the title piece of the lyrical section and with two other lyrics among the rest Sarvari and Pamulavadu belongs to the same kind as the earlier Vasantam and Tholakari, a type of nature poetry in which the poet reaches great heights of excellence. The spirit of the poet is so perfectly attuned to the beauty of Nature in its various seasons, aspects and moods that he is able to recreate for us the living presence and breath of it in his highly imaginative verse.

Some of the other lyrics are personal in theme and deal with the achievement and influence of literary and national heroes like Tikkana, Gandhi and Aravinda. Even here the style of the imagery! and the accent of the utterance are highly poetic and sweep the readers off his feet on the tidal wave of the poet’s intense feeling of worshipful admiration for the great men.

In the three longer poems we find the sensitive spirit of the poet troubled by the injustice, the stupidity and the cruelty in human nature and social relations, and grappling with the problems and attempting a criticism of life. The narratives are characterised by restraint, concentration on the essentials and utter simplicity, and directness in expression.

Pranayarpanamu is the story of a bird’s grief on the death of its partner ending in self-immolation and touching the heart and effecting a transformation in the mind of the callous and hardened debauchee who shoots it down. The theme is the power of love. Bali is the story of ruthless exploitation of an ignorant peasant by his cruel and extortionate landlord, a powerful plea for economic justice. Poli is tho best of the lot, admirable for the vitality of the character of the heroine, an old, hard-working, independent, virtuous servant-woman before whose untaught wisdom and moral stature, the entire male world withers into pitiful smallness as she asserts the claim of woman for real equality in spiritual status.

Lakshmipathi’s place among the greatest of the modern Telugu poets is assured and his friend Sri Nagagopala Rao deserves the thanks of all lovers of Telugu poetry for bringing out this volume.

Panduga Babumanamu (Short Stories in Telugu) by Illindala Saraswathi Devi, Andhra Book House, Hyderabad (Dn) Cr. 8-vo size Pp. 200 Rs. 2.

The book is a collection of 14 short stories, the first entitled Panduga Cheera (Festival Saree) and the last Bahumanamu (Presentation). Some of the stones were originally published in the literary journals of Andhra and some broadcast from Hyderabad (Deccan). Their re-publication in book form enables the Telugu reading public to study the quality and assess the value of the contribution of the author, a talented lady, to an important branch of modern Telugu literature, of increasing popularity and social significance.

One of the chief attractions of the volume is in the vivid pictures that it provides of social, especially domestic, situations in contemporary middle-class life in Andhra. The presentation reveals a lively imagination and considerable talent for effective realism. Several of the stories deal specifically with the theme of married life and its problems of adjustment and accommodation. The author pleads powerfully for mutual understanding, imagination and sense and points out clearly what a world of difference it makes. Perhaps the didacticism is a little too obtrusive and insistent.

The author exhibits a strong flair for psychology in quite a number of the stories–of the child that pines for sympathy, of the childless mother and the mother that has lost her child, of the father of a neglected wife, and of the despised and neglected son. The variety and range of the studies attempted and the success achieved, indicate wide sympathies, keen imaginative insight and a remarkable capacity for pathos in the writer.

In fact there is a predominance of the pathetic in the life presented in the volume and the author goes in sometimes for curious, out of the way and artificial situations, and an overdose of accident and coincidence for the sake of opportunities for psychological study and pathetic effects.

But the presentation is always dramatic and the device is very frequently employed and with good effect, of opening with a striking situation and providing the background and the antecedent circumstances by of way explanation or recapitulation. The language employed uniformly chaste and elegant, the language of conversation of the educated classes, and well adapted to character and situation.

There can be no doubt Srimati Saraswati Devi bids fair to carve out for herself an honoured place among the prominent Telugu short story writers of the day.

– ‘RASIKA’

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