LEAFING THROUGH
Simple, not profound
Chintana Chilume by
Satyesh N. Bellur
Abhijana, Rs. 70
This long poem Chintana Chilume (The fountain of thought) contains about 700 four-lined stanzas, each one making a statement about human behaviour, the aim of life, the question of right and wrong, the way life has to be lived, so on and so forth. Satyesh Bellur is inspired by D.V.G.'s Manku Timmana Kagga. D.V.G's four-lined stanzas end with the signature Manku Timma, a fictitious character, an identity marker as in the vachanas and keerthanas.
Manku Timmana Kagga means an idiot Timma's long, tedious literary composition. Timma stands for an ordinary man. By making this idiot speak profound truths about life, god, literature, birth, and other things, D.V.G.'s irony is double-edged.
Satyesh Bellur in his Chintana Chilume doesn't display subtlety that comes through in D.V.G. Satyesh Bellur's Navya Jeevi which translates to "new man'' has only negative connotations. Take this for example:
Mother gives food, mother gives wealth, courage and steadfastness come only if mother bestows it. Whatever may be the request of the heir, there are mothers who give it — modern man.
These lines neither state simple truths of life nor do they reveal anything extraordinary. Even his signing off only fulfils a formalistic need. There are 700 such stanzas which contain insignificant observations and opinions, unimportant details, and incompetent verification. For example, in the introductory part of the poem, the speaker of the poem, Navya jeevi, indiscriminately lists the names of a number of significant and insignificant Kannada writers who inspired him. This clearly shows his uncritical approach to literature.
Bellur's poetic diction is irritating with its old Kannada forms such as "Neleyim", "Kuvempuvam", "Vishayamum", and "Enanum". These archaic "um", "im" and "am" endings become terrible impediments in reading these verses.
Bellur has wide reading and wide range of interests, but in verse is not well-versed.
Sumatheendra Nadig
Truths of a time
Benkiyaagalollada Belaku
Komu Sauharda Vedike, Rs. 30
It is disturbing that India is sitting on a bomb called communalism that keeps exploding from time to time. The lies, half-truths churned out by communal forces and fundamentalists of all religions have vitiated the atmosphere of harmony and tolerance that has existed for centuries. This is not to state that all was well in the past but only to acknowledge the resilience of the Indian civilisation that has assimilated diverse currents that came its way. Such a give and take between cultures has been possible due to the catholicity of the true believers of every religion who perceive the sacredness in faiths that are different from their own.
The vehemence is reaching its peak due to the deliberate erasure of syncretic beliefs from the cultural memory of the people. The agenda to appropriate a shrine which has its own unique identity as belonging to only one religion is driving a wedge between communities whose borders were never sharply marked.
It is heartening to note that efforts are being made by a few organisations like the Karnataka Forum for Communal Harmony to expose the evil designs of communal forces to usurp control over the Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudangiri Darga. A report prepared by a team of members from various walks of life rightly seeks to present a holistic view of the controversy before the public. The chapter on people's faith refers to the traditional conflict between experiential faiths and orthodoxy. The crucial understanding needed today that such non-conventional faiths are neither Hindu nor Muslim but spring from a history of dissent against dominant streams of religious discourse has been pointed out well.
The lies being told repeatedly and the false history being constructed with an intension to bring schisms between people to profit from the power that results from such divisive politics has been subjected to close scrutiny. The analysis of a series of administrative orders and court judgements gives clarity about the shrine and its unique history. It also serves to expose the deliberate misinterpretation of such orders to gain control over the shrine. The report could have been more explanatory rather than empirical so that it could achieve its purpose of reaching a wider section of the readers. The possibility that the report may be used by certain forces that seek to employ religion as a strategic tool to establish an ideology must be precluded. However, a few positive developments referred to in the recent past where the government has been forced to intervene and take measures such as prohibiting a few newly planted rituals, which are inadequate, and also the awareness created in the people about the truth of the issue give hope to those striving "Towards Recovering a Disintegrating Land".
RAKSHITH M.R.
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