Dreams seldom die
H.S. VENKATESH MURTHY
|
Late Su. Ram. Ekkundi, the dreamer poet, admirably wove the past and present in his poetry. His complete poems, Bellakki Hindu, will be released on Sunday
|
If we have lost many dreams, ruthless Time is the reason. I repeatedly feel that the late Su. Ram. Ekkundi was one of those dreams that poetry-loving Kannadigas lost to time. His round eyes that would lovingly bloom, his unsullied laughter that would spread across his face, his talk full of whispered exclamations… whenever I think of him this is what comes to my mind.
Ekkundi himself was a dreamer poet. In him, there were stories of the past and dreams for the future. If in the imaginings of his past the mythological world was renewed, in his dreams for the future, the issues of contemporary world took shape. The early half of his poetic output positions itself in mythology and takes an oblique look at the present. Whereas in his late works, he is positioned in the merciless present even as he stretches his arms to the dreams of a future. He is backed by the oriental guru Madhva saint, and has before him visionary of the West, Marx.
Listen to a mythological story narrated by Ekkundi. When the forest envelopes the kingdom of Prince Prachetasara, he decides to cut down and burn the forests. The tree sprite Maarisha protests this and prepares herself for a war with him. A battle of words ensue and pop like sparks; the moon comes down from the high heavens, consoles the two, and gets them married. What the poem resounds is much deeper: to keep intact the balance of nature, it’s important to conserve forests. The story of Maarisha is also the story of a tribal girl saving the forest. It thereby reminds us of the ethereal story of “Tree Huggers” who saved the Himalayan forest range. Gaur Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi and other forerunners of the Chipko movement walk past the mind’s eye. It is a big crusade and at the end of it, we also have Medha Patkar of today.
Through his poetry, Ekkundi brings about an unannounced conflict between mythology and present. In poems such as Shabari, Bhagavantanu Neeredanu, Payana Gajendra Moksha, Kadava Tattidaru, Anderson Beedi-Londoninalli one sees how in the same breath he holds together both these streams of thoughts.
It was indeed a cultural responsibility of Kannada to present Ekkundi before aficionados of poetry. Mighty institutions like Kannada Sahitya Parishat or Kannada and Culture Department should have taken up this project. Nevertheless, it’s heartening that Sanchaya, the Kannada journal has taken the responsibility of this important task.
(Su. Ram. Ekkundi’s complete poetry collection, Bellakki Hindu, will be released by Dr. U. R. Ananthamurthy on July 27, Sunday, Senate Hall, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Veedi, 10. 30 a.m.)
(This is an excerpt from the essay . Translated from Kannada by Deepa Ganesh)
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
