.…he
that laboureth right for love of Me
shall
finally attain! But, if in this
Thy
faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure!
–THE
SONG CELESTIAL
Again a
Quarterly!
The Monthly ‘Triveni’
was wound up in July 1949. After a break of nine months, the journal is being
revived as a Quarterly.
It can be no pleasure
for an Editor to convert a. Monthly into a Quarterly. But when the choice lies
between the utter extinction of the journal and its survival as a modest
Quarterly, the Editor ought to give his journal a fresh lease of life. After
weeks and months of anxious thought, I decided on the 26th of January last to
publish ‘Triveni’ as a Quarterly from Masulipatam, for it seemed a great pity
that a journal which served the cause of culture for over two decades in unfree
India should fade out with the ad vent of the Indian Republic. I am grateful to
the friends in Masulipatam who went about and collected donations to enable me
to revive ‘Triveni’ even as a Quarterly. This ‘dream-child’ has always shed
Light on my Path. Blessed be her name!
From ‘C.
J.’ and ‘C. R.’
‘Triveni’ starts on its
new career with the blessings of Sri C. Jinarajadasa, a senior member of our
Advisory Board. I love to recall how he wrote the first article for the inaugural
number of ‘Triveni’ in December, 1927. His theme was “New Beginnings in Indian
Culture”. For the new ‘Triveni’ he writes about the “Asoka Chakra” Movement
which marks a new beginning in the life of Republican India. Like the first
literary contribution for the opening issue of ‘Triveni’, the first review of
it also came from Adyar. ‘The Thoesophist’ welcomed it as a “magazine that can
lie beside the best in any part of the world with credit.” The beauty and the
peace of Adyar have fascination for me, and ‘C. J.’ has been my ‘Esteemed
Brother’ watching over me and “Triveni’.
Another dear spot is
‘Maitri Bhavan’, the home of Sri B. P. Wadia and Srimathi Sophia Wadia, in
beautiful Bangalore. In March, 1942 when ‘Triveni’ migrated as a Quarterly from
Madras to Bangalore, and again in August, 1947 when ‘Triveni’ re-appeared as a
Monthly, ‘Maitri Bhavan’ was the scene of festive gatherings of the P. E. N.
and Srimathi Sophia Wadia was the gracious hostess.
These frequent
alternations between the Monthly and the Quarterly must be annoying to the
readers of ‘Triveni’. That reminds me of the suggestion made by Sri C.
Rajagopalachariar so long ago as April, 1940. ‘Triveni’, which started as a
Two-Monthly in December, 1927, became a Monthly in July, 1936. But a Monthly
could not be sustained in the conditions created by the world-war towards the
end of 1939, and ‘Triveni’ appeared as a Quarterly from July, 1940. But before
this change was effected, Sri K. Chandrasekharan and myself called on Sri
Rajaji at his quiet little home in Tyagarayanagar, Madras. He was a friend of
‘Triveni’ and contributed valuable articles on life and letters. So, we sought
his advice. He noticed how sad I was to give up the Monthly after four years of
a brilliant existence. He smiled his usual smile, kindly but enigmatic, and
exclaimed, “A Quarterly! Why not an Annual?” He assured me that he was not
joking, and quoted the example of ‘Bibby’s Annual’ in England. But I was not
convinced, nor had he courage to take what appeared like a ‘leap in the dark’.
After an interval of ten years, Sri Rajaji repeats his advice. When he laid
down his high office and settled in Madras, I wrote to him that ‘Triveni’ was
once again becoming a Quarterly and requested him to send something for the
opening number, preferably on “Tamil Poetry after Bharati”. Quick as lightning,
came his reply:
My dear Ramakotisvara Rao,
That you are now
established as the Editor of a Weekly that is doing well is gratifying news.2
As regards articles from
me, I feel rather like a cow that is dry or perhaps, more accurately speaking,
like its owner!
Ultimately the “Triveni’
must become a splendid Annual superbly got-up, packed with the best available
articles and sold at Rs. 10 a volume. You won’t take my advice and will be
moving from Monthly to Quarterly and back.
Yours sincerely,
C. RAJAGOPALACHAR
But I am anxious that
‘Triveni’ should be stabilised as a high class Quarterly. Eventually, I may
publish a Special Annual Number, in addition to the four issues every year.
But, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual, Sri Rajaji’s interest in ‘Triveni’ will be
unflagging. And, as I launch this frail craft, my thoughts are with him, and
with two former ‘guardians’ of ‘Triveni’ in Bangalore, Sri Masti Venkatesa
Iyengar and Sri D. V. Gundappa. There was a third, Prof. B. M. Srikantia, who
led the literary renaissance in Karnataka, but alas! he is now no more.
No more, too, is
Govindarajachari, the most gifted man of his generation in South India. He was
a great Advocate and Judge, and a great gentleman. To me, he was the most
loving of friends. But for him and Sri K. Chandrasekharan, son of the late V.
Krishnaswami Aiyar, ‘Triveni’ could not have made any headway during the early
years in Madras.
The Pact
The dawn of freedom in
August, 1947 coincided with the division of this ancient land into two
independent sovereign States. Even more than the fact of division, the theory
of two nations that lay behind it wrought incalculable mischief. While India
declared itself a secular democratic State, Pakistan clung to the antiquated
conception of a theocratic State in which the Minorities were accorded an
inferior status. Unless full citizenship rights are conceded to the Minorities
in Pakistan, as they are conceded to the Minorities in India, there can be no
friendly understanding between the two States. From this point of view, the
statement of the Pakistan Prime Minister - that his State will function as a
modern democracy where all citizens shall be equal, indicates a, great step
forward. Since the new Constitution of Pakistan is yet in the making, it ought
to be easy for the leaders of Pakistan to incorporate in it this vital change
of outlook.
The implementation of
the Pact will tax the energies and the patience of the Central and State
Governments of India and Pakistan. The presence of a Minister from the Minority
community in the Cabinets of East Bengal, West Bengal and Assam, and the
formation of Minority Commissions in these States, will inspire confidence all
round. Even more important is the stationing of members of the Central Cabinet
from Delhi and Karachi in the disturbed areas, with powers to summon any of the
Minorities Commissions, or even a joint session of them. So far as human
ingenuity and foresight can achieve lasting peace between India and Pakistan,
the conditions have been provided in the Pact. Gandhiji wanted that India
should be divided as between two brothers. That wish was not fulfilled. But two
brothers who divide in anger can meet again as friends. And if they can live as
friendly neighbours, India and Pakistan will be saved from the oppressive load
of Defence expenditure, which has robbed them of the power to build up healthy,
progressive modern States on either side of the border, assuring to the
citizens of both States the conditions of a civilised existence. The world’s
eyes are on the two Prime Ministers. Lovers of peace everywhere must strengthen
their hands. Thus will a bright future emerge from the chaos of the present.
From the
Classics
I am now taking up the
threads snapped a year ago, and weaving them into a new pattern. There are a
dozen languages in India with highly developed literatures, some of them over a
thousand years old. The greater part of this heritage of India is in the form
of verse devoted to love, valour, or the worship of God. But very little of
this is known beyond the particular language-area. The classical poems of the
medieval and modern eras abound in beauty and they have yet to be rendered into
the sister-languages of India, and into Hindi and English. This is a huge task,
but supremely important. The Indian National Commission of the UNESCO and the
Council for Cultural Relations recently inaugurated by Pandit Nehru should seek
the co-operation of scholars all over India and appoint translation boards in
cultural centres like Masulipatam, Madras and Bangalore. Governmental bodies
move slowly, and there is a likelihood of their deciding that translations from
the different languages into Hindi alone ought to suffice, and that it is a
waste of effort to translate anything into English, or even into Indian
languages other than Hindi. But ‘Triveni’ will continue to publish renderings
into English.
Everyone is familiar
with the saying that “translators are traitors”. This only means that the music
and the charm of the best poetry cannot be conveyed from one language into
another, and more especially from an Indian language into any of the European
languages. But if facetious critics had had their way, the ‘Shah-Namah” of
Firdausi and the ‘Rubaiyat’ of Omar Khayyam would have been sealed books to
people outside Persia or the Middle East, and Homer and Virgil, Kalidasa and
Shakespeare unknown to lovers of poetry in many lands. Translators are indeed
ambassadors of culture.
In the present number of
‘Triveni’, a talented friend renders a medieval love-episode from Telugu. I am
keen on publishing renderings from all Indian languages. May I invite literary
friends to join in this adventure?
K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAO
‘TRIVENI’ OFFICE
MASULIPATAM
1 April 16.
2 This gratification can only be short lived, for,
yesterday, I ceased to be Editor of the famous Telugu Weekly, the ‘Krishna
Patrika’ of Masulipatam.