PROFILE
Voice of an era
KALA KRISHNAN RAMESH
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C.D. Narasimhaiah influenced the way a whole generation of students read, responded and critiqued English texts.
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English, the Indian way: C.D. Narasimhaiah
PROFESSOR C.D. Narasimhaiah's life was such that the old platitude "an institution in himself" lost its irony when applied to him; he was a gigantic enterprise that gave several generations of writers, scholars, teachers and students a sense of homing their learning and mapping out a journey within the vast territory of English Studies, particularly the reading and use of English in India and the Commonwealth.
The Indian enterprise of "decolonising" ourselves in the use of English and the ways of learning, responding and writing contained and passed on in that language, and in its place using retrieved indigenous systems of knowledge owes much to C.D. Narasimhaiah. As Makarand Paranjape said of his Decolonizing English Studies: Attaining Swaraj?, "... a piece such as this could not have been written had it not been for CDN and others like him who had, in a sense, both shown the way and paved it for us".
Early attempts at an Indian aesthetics
"Dhvanyaloka" — the name that CDN gave to the institute he founded in Mysore, on retirement from active teaching, is an indication of this work, for this 9th Century text on poetics authored by Anandavardhana, enunciates at length the concept of dhvani, which along with those of the rasas, featured in depth in early Indian attempts to formulate a criticism based on Indian traditions in aesthetics and criticism.
CDN and others not only went back to these texts which are "ours" often only in the literal sense, to explore and re-order their use so that they became "ours" in a more functional way, something that applied to what we read, thought and wrote as much as influenced how we read, responded and undertook criticism of what we read.
In the context of debates on writing in English and Indian responses to literature in English, CDN often despaired that the Indian response was merely an "... echo, an echo of an echo", that we were merely accepting established western response. He not only believed that the Indian response was lacking in an "Indianness" that would give our responses the original flavour of being our "own", but also that the reason why Indian writing was not getting the attention it deserved was that we were not working within our own traditions.
All of this also manifested in CDN's focussing a great deal of attention on Indian writing in English, (and not enough on Kannada literature, as some complain) which he is usually credited with popularising, and the literature of the Commonwealth countries. At Dhvanyaloka, hardly a day went by when there was not a seminar or discussion on these very topics, and the Literary Criterion, founded by CDN in 1952, carried debates, articles, and other writing on these topics.
C.D. Narasimhaiah was born in "Closepet", now Ramanagaram, in Bangalore district in May 1921, and after being educated at Mysore and Cambridge, he taught English at Mysore University, where he inspired several generations of writers and scholars, including U.R. Anantamurthy. Students remember him as encouraging, if not demanding, personal interaction/ involvement with each text that he taught, resulting in the student being able to "read" the "text" from and through the context of this individual involvement.
Later he was the Principal of Maharaja's College, Mysore, and on retirement, he opened Dhvanyaloka.
Passionate about environment too
It was not only literature that drew a passionate response from CDN. He also founded the Dhvanyaloka Mysore Environment Foundation (DMEF), which was actively involved in citizen initiatives to save Kukkarahally Lake. It's interesting to learn that CDN's walks along this lake with R.K. Narayan are a part of local folklore! DMEF also lent its support to Nirmala Nagara Yojane (Clean City Project), launched by the Mysore City Corporation.
CDN authored several books, including Jawaharlal Nehru: A Study of His Writings and Speeches, Writer's Gandhi, Raja Rao: Novelist, Moving Frontiers of English Studies in India, The Function of Criticism in India, Indian Critical Scene: Controversial Essays, N for Nobody: Autobiography of an English Teacher.
He was honoured with recognition, awards, and fellowships all through his life. The Karnataka Government honoured him with the Rajyotsava award and he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
With the passing away of Professor C.D. Narasimhaiah, the voice of a whole era in English Studies fades away, but only after having enlarged the scope of this subject that interested him and nurturing further generations whose voices speak of new paths, new ways and remember the beginnings that this giant laboured at, with affection and respect.
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