A case for humour
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This week’s Kannada reads move from humour to spirituality
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Best of Kefa, Edited by S. Diwakar
Ankita Pustaka, Rs. 95
Kefa, the pen name of A. V. Keshavamurthy, is a familiar name for those who have been reading humorous writings published in Kannada periodicals. He was popular in the 70s and 80s. For unknown reasons, he receded to oblivion without much recognition.
This is a collection of his select writings respectfully edited by one of our thinking writers, S. Diwakar.
Kannada literature cannot boast of rich tradition of humorous writing. “Koravanji”, a periodical meant to publish humorous writings did not last long. Humorous writers and their writings are not taken seriously by critics either. Writers like T. Sunandamma, Dasharathi Dikshith, H.L. Keshava Murthy and others are not considered important writers of the language. Kefa’s humour is tasteful, subtle and sensitive. It is borne out of rich-old Mysore upper middle-class Brahmin culture. Of course, much of the humour in the book looks contrived. There is a scheme with which the 25 episodes are narrated. Panduranga Rao, the narrator and endearingly addressed as ‘Pandu’ by his acquaintances, is a lazy and fun-loving bachelor who is fond of nicer things in life. He is a proactive member of a club called “Mygallara Sangha”. He agets into some problem – domestic, social, political, and most importantly, they have no solutions. But, the intelligent and ubiquitous assistant, Shourie, who is sharp and hard-nosed, solves those problems and transfers all the credit to his master ungrudgingly.
Pandu’s community consists of Babu, Jagga, Raghanni, Kitti, Venku, Sheeni, Raja, Chandi, Peter, Bhansingh, Gulabi Mala and others. Though the locale of all their activities is the simple old Mysore of 50s and 60s, more particularly localities in Mysore like the Clock Tower, Shivarampet, Ittigegud, Chamundipura, Old Agrahara, etc., the characters are drawn from different walks of life. They hail from different religions, cultures, and linguistic backgrounds. The narration is studded with the Mysore delicacies like bisibelebath, badanekayi vangibath, laadu, gasa-gase payasa, aambode, Mysore jasmine, Nanjanagud Rasabale, ‘strong’ coffee, topping al this with the wine parties in the evenings at ‘Mygallara Sangha’. Besides, you have ‘Ghantaghosha’, the local newspaper whose prime concern seems to be publishing the activities of ‘Mygallara Sangha’ and nothing else.
During all the activities of the lazy Pandu and Shourie, there is rich humour rendered in Kannada which looks outlandish. Though the Kannada used here is not like that of Kailasam whose mix of Kannada with English and Urdu was unique, one cannot not miss code mixing and code switching, the main purpose of which is to evoke laughter. Expressions like ‘seetastha’ (taking his seat), ‘sippebitta’ (he sipped), ‘rich soillu’ (fertile soil), ‘thumba clanishu’ (too clannish) are linguistically interesting expressions. There are occasionally translations of English idioms which look comical in Kannada like ‘skeletons in the cupboard’ becomes ‘yaryara beerunalliro asthipanjara’. ‘Don’t ficker bus’ refers to private transport buses of those days which were largely driven by muslims. The typical expressions of the time like – ‘ardha cigaretu samaya’, ‘morning show shuruvago samaya,’ etc., makes for an interesting observation of what constituted the time markers of the period of a particular class and lifestyle.
Idrish Sharavara Daraveshi Kathegalu
By Gauri Lankesh, Rs. 90
Sufis address human problems through fables, allegories and metaphors. The poetic diction and socio-cultural values associated with sufi literature have interested modern Kannada thinkers. Gauri Lankesh’s rendering of Idris Sha’s “T
ales of the Dervishes” offers an enlightening experience. At distressing times like these, the book offers great solace.
Idris Sha spent over three decades collecting sufi stories. His books have been translated into many languages. The sufi stories were meant to sharpen the human minds. It is widely accepted that sufi stories have changed the methods of thinking and understanding the human mind in the 20th century.
‘Darveshi’ is what Jangamas are to Hinduism. The mystical element makes the reading of the stories invaluable. Kinship, hard work, fate, family relations, money, pragmatism, ignorance, belief in God – all these rendered in simple language and makes the book extremely readable.
There are 40 stories here and each story could be treated as an epitome of sufi view of life. The concern for the working class and the celebrating the greater common good forms the main crux of the stories. “Benkiya Kathe” speaks of the exploitation and degradation of human values which can lead to disaster of some kind or the other. In fact, all the stories lend themselves to multiple readings. For example, “Padarakshegalannu Kuritu”, talks about two different approaches to inculcation of honesty among people. But the real problem of honesty lies elsewhere.
Similarly, “Nirannu Badalayisidaaga”, talks about the queer ways in which human beings act and react. The translation is so good that it sounds very sound original and intense in Kannada.
One cannot however, miss certain ideological inclinations of the translator in this collection. For instance, the word “purohitashahi” seems too ideologically loaded in Kannada (“Benkiya Kathe”). In the original, it probably was less loaded. Similarly, the useful information given as postscript for some of the select stories most often advocate a particular kind of reading of the stories. This is not a negative observation. Such manifestations are indeed the translator’s unconscious, but legitimate responses to the materials s/he is translating. Translation is after all a way of interpretation too.
Rahmath Tarikere has written an important foreword to the book. Neelu (P. Lankesh)’s poem on the blurb is relevant and goes well with the theme of the book.
K. SUNDARA RAJ
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