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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 Boyâ€� (Vikram Seth), “The God of Small Thingsâ€� (Arundhati Roy); “H²¹°ù±¹±ð²õ³Ùâ€� (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�.