Triveni Journal

1927 | 11,233,916 words

Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....

[We shall be glad to review books in all Indian languages and in English, French and German. Books for Review should reach the office at least SIX WEEKS in advance of the day of publication of the Journal.]

The Bengali Drama (Trubner's Oriental Series) By P. Guha Thakurta, M.A. (Harvard). Ph.D. (London). [Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., London. Price 10sh. 6d.]

The full title of the book is "The Bengali Drama; Its Origin and Development." This is, as the author remarks, substantially a thesis which he submitted for his Ph. D. Degree of the London University for original research in 1926. The very fact that it was accepted for the Ph.D. Degree by the London University and also that it was published in the Trubner's Oriental Series is enough recommendation for its merit as a work of original investigation and scholarly thoroughness. It is original in a far wider sense, in that there are no authoritative works of the sort available for scholars and for laymen. There are some books dealing with Sanskrit Literature. But Sanskrit has long ago ceased to be a living language. The genius of India reveals itself, not merely in modern times but also for some long time past, through the medium of the modern spoken languages. There are many literary works in all the major languages of India which can stand comparison with the best in modern European languages, and some that far surpass any there. Yet it is regrettable that there are no authoritative books from which one can have a fair idea of the origin, growth and development of literature in its various aspects in the many major languages of India. The present work is a pioneer in the field, and it is quite fitting that it should have appeared in Trubner's Oriental Series, which has to its credit many valuable books dealing with India.

The work is divided into six main sections. In the first or introductory section, the author deals with the Jatras or the folk-theatres in Bengal. The author is very much handicapped in dealing with this subject by the lack of material. All the Jatras that are available date from about the beginning of the last century; one can well understand the difficulty in making out a connected account of the origin of the folk theatre in Bengal. The Jatras as now found in Bengal are mostly of a Vaishnavaite nature. There must have been some kind of theatre in ancient Bengal, which must have become very corrupt and the theatre must have been revived through the Vaishnavaite influence. There is no record of the theatre in its original condition. If I may venture a suggestion, Jatra does not mean a theatre but only a procession. The chief feature in temple festivities is the procession of the Deity. On the occasions of such festivals, not in accompaniment of the actual procession, dramatic performances were conducted. Some kinds of Drama, very much akin to the Jatras of Bengal, still continue in other parts of India also, especially in Malabar.

Even from the earliest times, there must have been two currents in Indian religion. One is associated with ritualism, found in the Vedas. Side by side with this ritualism there must have been image-worship also, and the theatre is closely allied to the image-worship in temples. This side of Hindu religion came into great prominence as Buddhism and Jainism, and the Buddhistic touch in Indian Drama, especially in its presentation on the stage, is quite manifest. The Deity was worshipped in the temple through the idol, and also through the dramatic representation of stories connected with the Deity by trained actors. Even from the earliest times, there must have been various aspects of this dramatic representation. (1) A person, with some kind of theatrical get-up, narrated the story to the audience, with no characters actually appearing on the stage. (2) Trained actors represented the story through gestures to the accompaniment of songs from behind. (3) The actors presented the story through conversation and also acting. (4) Side by side with such dramatic representation by professional actors, who perhaps formed a caste by themselves, there must have been professional and non-professional actors outside the caste, who also represented stories, divine, symbolical and purely secular, for popular audiences. Some of these latter may have been of a very low type in point of art both in presentation and literature. There are evidences for all these kinds of dramas in India. A thorough investigation into the conditions of the theatre in other parts of India, especially those parts with which Bengal was in most intimate cultural contact, will reveal many points that will be of help in tracing the development of the Jatras of Bengal. This section of the book is a very small one, and there is still much scope for original research work in this field.

The second section deals with the "Beginnings of the modern Bengali Drama." Here the author is on surer ground and he has much material to work on. He deals with the influence of English theatres in Calcutta. The Bengalis began to act English dramas. I quote the words of the author in describing the influence of the contact of Bengal with the English. "The first effect of this impact of a new and alien civilization was almost paralysing. Upon this there followed a tendency to blind imitation of Western models." But there was still a change for healthier conditions. A new era came in. The chief features of this new era are, to quote again the author, "first, a revival of classical studies and a return to older traditions, and second, a steady assimilation of European thoughts and ideas, both under the direct influence of English education." Sanskrit plays were acted by Bengalis. Sanskrit plays were, translated and presented in Bengali theatres. This was the ground on which the rear modern Bengali dramas were to be produced.

There are four stages in the development of this modern Bengali theatre. The first is associated with the Belgacchia theatre. An adaptation from the Sanskrit Ratnavali was staged before a very distinguished audience including many Europeans. Michael Madhu Sudan Dutt, the great poet of Bengal in the middle of the last century, was very prominent in the development of this theatre. He wrote a drama, Sarmishtha, for this theatre and it is this drama that brought his name into prominence. Then he wrote Padmavati and Krishnakumari. These are his serious plays. He wrote many comedies also. His drama was a real break from the tradition of the Sanskrit dramas with their fixed canons. His dramas reveal his European training. The Belgacchia theatre was not long to remain lonely in the field of Bengali theatres. Its rivals made their appearance soon. The chief among them was the Bowbazar Theatre. And the name of the great Bengali dramatist Mano Mohan Basu is mainly associated with this Theatre.

The next stage in Bengali drama is associated with the names of Girish Chandra Ghosh and Dina Bandhu Mitra. Their plays were shown at the National Theatre. Both of them have written many dramas. About Girish Chandra Ghosh, the author says, "Like Shakespeare and Moliere, Girish Chandra Ghosh belongs to that very sensitive type of theatrical worker called ‘player’ and is also one of the few great players who have won distinction in the field of serious scholarship. He did not always write with his eye on the stage. He was quite often indifferent to the technical demands of the theatre." He had an excessive fondness for introducing songs and comic interludes. He was also a very voluminous writer.

Dina Bandhu Mitra was a very acute and shrewd observer of social manners and of everything else that he happened to see around him. He was a born humourist, but his humour was rather of a peculiar kind. It was coarse and even indecent at times. Thus his comedies were not a great success. They sink to the level of crude farce. They bored the play-goers and the National Theatre was compelled to reject his plays and go in for other plays.

Girish Chandra Ghosh was a great influence in moulding the modern Bengali Theatre. Those who came before him had seen only a vision of the birth of the new drama in Bengal. It was he who brought this vision to fruition by the hard, patient labour of years. For upwards of two decades from the time when be became producer on his own account, he was responsible for all the changes and new lines of activity which contributed to the establishment of drama as an art in Bengal.

The next great figure is Dvijendra Lal Roy. He was deeply stirred by the Swadeshi movement. But he knew that not everything in Hinduism was wholesome and good and that nationalism by itself was not enough to uplift India. His great drama is Rana Pratap. Earlier in his career he had written some light comedies. He has contributed many serious dramas to the Bengali Literature. Mention may be made of Durga Das, Nurjahan, Mewad Patan, Shahjahan and Chandra Gupta. He wrote also one social play Para Pare, which is a class in itself in Bengali Literature. Dvijendra Lal started by idealising the characters of past history, and later began to subordinate incident to the study of character from the psychological side. He had no respect for conventions in drama. He was a great influence in the national awakening in Bengal and his contribution to Bengali life is immense.

Closely following the author, I have traced the chief stages in the development of modern Bengali drama; its first birth through contact with European civilization, its association with the Sanskrit dramas and then its emergence as an independent literature with an individuality of its own. The author deals with the dramas of Tagore. They are translated into many of the languages in the world and they are very well-known. So I do not attempt to give a summary of what the author says about these dramas.

The author is an impartial critic, keen and thorough in his observations. He is not a sentimental patriot. He knows the flaws of the modern Bengali theatre. I must here add that the book is not merely a history of dramatic literature; it deals with the stage also. About the modern stage in Bengal he says: "I cannot help criticising the modern Bengali stage for its lack of realism in production as well as technique. But this is not so serious as the preponderance of talk over action. Movement and action are not merely accessories to the text, but vital factors. I cannot empasise this point too strongly on Bengali playwright"

The book is excellently written. The title of the book ought to have been "The Modern Bengali Drama." In a work on Bengali drama, we have a right to expect more about the earlier stages of the drama in Bengal. Practically the book deals with only the nineteenth-century drama. Were there Bengali dramas in earlier times? Or were there only theatres in which dramas written for the time being were produced, dramas which never had a pretention to being literature? On this very important problem, practically little light is thrown by the author. The work is a very clear exposition of the modern Bengali genius. It is very necessary I that similar works should be written for the other major languages of India.

C. KUNHAN RAJA, M.A., D.PHIL, (OXON.)

University of Madras.

Women's Rights under the Hindu Law–A review of the Mysore Report.

The Government of Mysore must be congratulated upon the promptitude and enterprise with which they accepted the suggestion of their legislature and appointed a committee for the purpose of examining the position of women in Hindu Law and of suggesting desirable changes to bring Hindu Law into consonance with the spirit of the times; and the Committee which was presided over by that able judicial officer, Diwan Bahadur K. S. Chandrasekhara Aiyar, must also be congratulated upon the speedy and successful termination of their labours and on the report which they submitted to His Highness's Government—a report which is characterised by a thorough grasp of the defects and shortcomings of Hindu Law of the present day, by a progressive outlook especially in the matter of women's rights, and by a practicalness which is not satisfied with mere generalities but formulates in accurate legal language the particular changes that are recommended.

The Introduction to the Report deals with several subjects of considerable interest, some of them raising controversial issues, but limitations of space forbid us from entering into any elaborate discussion of these topics. After dealing with the several sources of Hindu Law, the learned authors refer to the part played by British Indian courts in "retarding the natural growth of Hindu Law." One may perhaps doubt whether British Indian courts have not also played a really useful part in preserving and conserving Hindu Law very such as they found it, till a representative legislature should take upon itself the task of reshaping or remodelling an ancient system of jurisprudence to suit the needs and conditions of modern society. Then the learned authors point out that "Dharma in the Hindu conception is not something immutable" and that Hindu Law has undergone and must undergo changes if it is to be suitable to the needs and conditions of the times. The arguments that are usually advanced against legislative interference are next refuted. The relative merits of codification and piecemeal legislation are examined and it is indicated that the inclination of the authors is distinctly in favour of the former. Here again it may be asked whether any attempt at codification would not stir up popular prejudice and opposition at what may be described as an interference with Hindu religion and religious customs and usages without having any countervailing advantages, and whether it is not more advisable that there should be legislation on matters of particular urgency, leaving the comprehensive enactment of a Hindu code to a future and more opportune occasion.

Chapters ii to vi of the Report deal with inheritance and maintenance, women's full estate and limited estate and joint family incidents and adoption, while Chapter vii incorporates in the form of a bill the legislative changes necessary to carry out the conclusions arrived at in the course of the discussion in the preceding five chapters. This method of treatment has obvious advantages, in that pointed attention is drawn to what exactly are the changes contemplated, and the legislature will have before it something definite and tangible to work upon instead of having itself to attempt the extremely difficult and delicate task of putting its conclusions into the proper legal form and mould.

It may not be necessary to deal in detail with the historical portions of the several chapters. There are copious quotations from the Smritis and from the writings of well-known jurists on each of the subjects with which the learned authors of the Report are dealing. The treatment shows considerable scholarship and erudition and has the further merit of being brief without being terse or turgid. But what interests us most are the conclusions arrived at, the defects that are pointed out in the Hindu Law of the present day and the remedies that are suggested.

As the learned authors themselves observe in the Introduction, "every proposal for change must be jealously scrutinised and examined on its own merits, without prepossession and without prejudice" and so venerable an edifice "as Hindu Law should not be altered needlessly or in the spirit of iconoclasm or with the aim of producing something quite new that may look or work better." That is the test clearly and correctly laid down and the question is how far the changes suggested in the Report stand that scrutiny and that test.

Any amendment of the law of inheritance must concern itself with two questions:

    1. Who are the persons who are not now included in the category of heirs but who should be brought within that category.
    2. Changes in the order in which the heirs should succeed, or in other words, the question of preference or priority.
    3. On both points the Report suggests sweeping alterations. According to the Madras School of Hindu Law, one's widow and daughter come immediately after the son, grandson and great-grandson, while one's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother come in respectively before the father, the grandfather and the great-grandfather.

The only females who are entitled to succeed as bandhus are the following seven: - (1) Sister, (2) Half-sister, (3) Son's daughter, (4) Daughter's daughter, (5) Brother's daughter, (6) Sister's daughter, (7) Father's sister. The only female relation by marriage who is entitled to succeed is, therefore, one's wife, while the number of female blood relations who are entitled to succeed is extremely limited. The authors recommend the conferment of heritable right upon female blood relations and upon the widows of agnatic male relations.

Whether they desire that this heritable right should be conferred upon female blood relations up to the fifth degree and upon the widows of gotraja sapindas up to the fourteenth degree, or whether they recommend the restriction of the heritable right to four degrees in either case, as clauses 6 and 7 seem to suggest, is by no means clear. The conferment of heritable right on women is sought to be affected by clauses 4 and 5 which are expressed in negative language and which merely declare that sex or the absence of an enabling text of law should not stand in the way of female relations succeeding to the property of a deceased Hindu. It may be doubted whether clauses 4 and 5 would be sufficient or effective in achieving the desired purpose. For though the Madras High Court has recognised the heritable right of certain female relations who are not named in any express text, there has been no general recognition of the heritable right of all female relations within five degrees on the ground that they are bhinna gotra sapindas or bandhus. Again the Madras school has not found it possible to bring in the widows of gotraja sapindas as heirs and even the claims of the step-mother have distinctly been negatived. In this state of the authorities, therefore, it may be necessary to pass an act conferring in affirmative language heritable right on those classes of female relations on whom it is contemplated that such rights should be conferred. An enactment negatively worded as if an existing disability is sought to be removed, and proceeding on the assumption that, had it not been for such a disability, female relations would be entitled to succeed as much as males, may hardly be enough. At any rate, when legislation is contemplated, there is no point in keeping the law doubtful or uncertain or in leaving room for controversy.

Dealing with the merits of the proposals, there does not seem to be very much of justification or necessity for the wholesale importation of Bombay law in the matter of the rights of inheritance of the widows of gotraja sapindas. A step-mother or a daughter-in-law or the widow of a grandson or of a great-grandson should certainly be provided for and should further be given a high place among one's heirs. But it is idle to suggest that there is anything like a widespread desire that a grand-uncle's grand-son's widow should be ranked among the heritable relations. It is obvious that this proposal to bring in the widows of gotraja sapindas is due to some vague feeling of chivalry or an impression that it is a necessary step in the emancipation of women. But one perhaps may pertinently ask whether if a brother's wife should succeed to a man's property, a sister's husband should not have corresponding rights of succession to a woman's property. The object or intention of any law of succession is to provide for the devolution of one's property on persons who, by reason of their near relationship by blood or marriage, have a claim on his affections or expectations in regard to his property. To the extent that the present Hindu Law of inheritance is defective in that respect, it certainly has to be amended. But there is neither necessity nor justification for conferring heritable rights upon the widow of an agnate of the 14th degree, because her husband is a heritable relation under a system of law which has come down to us from the ancient past. There can be no serious objection to the creation of heritable rights in favour of female relations up to the fourth degree nor to clauses 6 and 7 which lay down the order in which the male and female relations up to the fourth degree should succeed. The authors have taken considerable pains to reconcile the existing state of things with the claims of the persons who are newly admitted to rights of Inheritance, and they have also succeeded in giving near cognate male relations their proper and legitimate place in the scheme of inheritance instead of postponing them as under the existing law to Samanodakas of the 14th degree.

The further devolution of the property after the several classes of heirs enumerated in clause are exhausted is presumably left untouched with all the obscurity and uncertainty which still surrounds the law of succession in the case of bandhus. It would have been much better if the authors had clearly stated their views as regards the rights of inheritance of sapindas and samanodakas up to the 14th degree and their widows, and of bhinnagotra sapindas male and female up to the 5th degree, and of the order in which such heirs should succeed. The best solution would perhaps have been to disinherit all relations beyond the 4th degree and leave the property to escheat to the State, because we cannot conceive of any claims which a man's relations of the 5th degree and beyond can possible have on his property. This may no doubt be regarded as too drastic, and the next best solution would therefore be to bring in all near relations and give them their proper place in the list of heirs, leaving the remoter devolution to be regulated by a few simple and intelligible rules for the determination of preference.

Part II is devoted to the law of separate property and adoption Clause 8 deals with self-acquisitions or gains of science or learning very much on the lines of the Bill introduced by Sir V. Bhashyam Iyengar in the Madras Legislative Council and the Act recently passed by the Imperial legislature. The language of clause 8 is perhaps even more comprehensive than the language of the Indian enactment. There can be no difference of opinion as to the necessity and desirability of a provision of this kind. But the giving of shares to certain females like the widow, the mother, the unmarried daughter and the unmarried sister at a. partition is not likely to commend itself to general acceptance. Adequate and ample provision for the maintenance and marriage expenses of such relations may be insisted on, but the giving of shares to such relations would, besides rendering the law of partition cumbrous and complicated, lead to undue fragmentation of family property, and it may be doubted whether the making of a proper and even generous provision for maintenance and marriage expenses would not adequately fulfill the purpose which the framers had in view in providing for the giving of shares to such female relations in clause 10. Clause 11 lays down that a widow shall be presumed to have her husband's authority to make an adoption. This introduces a highly salutary provision and approximates the position of a Hindu widow in the Madras Presidency in this respect to that of a Hindu widow in the Bombay Presidency. It puts an end to the necessity for the consent of sapindas which is an unfortunate if peculiar development of the Dravida school of Hindu Law; Sub-Cl. 3 of Clause 11 deals with what are usually described ed as ante-adoption agreements and seeks to state the law much in the same way in which it was understood in the Madras Presidency prior to the Privy Council decision in Krishnamurti Iyer Versus Krishnamurti Iyer, 50 Mad., 500. (P. C.)

The authors deserve every congratulation on the manner in which they have dealt With the law of "stridhana" which has always been regarded as a bugbear by lawyers. The definition of stridhana in para 12 is simple and comprehensive and the authors have done well in doing away with the several species into which stridhana is subdivided, each with its own table of heirs and its own peculiar devolution. Clause 14 regulates the succession to stridhana and has rendered as clear as could possibly be done a branch of law which has been notorious for its obscurity. The illogical distinction between married and unmarried daughters, widowed and barren daughters and so on as in the matter of succession has been rightly done away with. Clause 15 confers absolute rights on females succeeding to stridhana property and this is no doubt a desirable change. Clauses 16 and 17 which state that gifts or bequests in favour of females shall have, even when made without words of limitation, the same effect in all respects as gifts or bequests in favour of males, merely state rules of construction which are now established beyond all doubt by a series of Privy Council decisions and seem rather out of place in an enactment amending certain branches of the substantive law.

The subject of women's estate which is dealt with in part IV raises some controversial issues. In the matter of the quantum of the estate which a woman inherits from a male relation, a distinction is drawn between a widow or mother or a female relation by blood on the one hand, and the remaining female relations on the other. The former are to take a full estate while the latter are to take the limited estate which is popularly described as a "widow's estate" and which is sought to be defined in clauses 19 and 20. Those clauses practically state the law relating to limited estates as it is and no objection need be taken to a statutory enunciation of that kind.

The attempt to confer an absolute estate on a widow or a mother would however create a complication where there is a daughter or daughter's son of the propositus. Take especially the case where a man leaves a second wife and a daughter by a predeceased wife. The widow would almost certainly convey the property to her own relations depriving the daughter of her rights of inheritance in her father's property. And if we are to imagine to ourselves what the deceased person would have desired in the matter of the devolution of his property, we may perhaps say with confidence that, in the great majority of cases, a Hindu desires that his property should go after his widows' death to his daughter's son. If however absolute rights are to be conferred on widows and daughters, it may have to be considered whether a widow and a daughter should not be enabled to succeed simultaneously and whether any rights of representation should be recognised in favour of daughters’ sons by a predeceased daughter. The proviso to Clause 18 whereby it is sought to enable a limited estate holder to acquire full estate by obtaining a release from the next reversioner is opposed to the fundamental principle that a reversioner has a mere spes successionis and therefore nothing to conveyor to release. Clause 21 again deals with the doctrine of surrender in a peculiar way. Partial surrender is sought to be legalised as also surrenders made with the avowed object or purpose of benefiting the widow herself. Or in other words the two essential conditions of a valid surrender are abrogated and one is at a loss to understand why the transactions contemplated by clause 21 should still be described as ‘surrender,’ when the legislature could avoid this circumlocutory method and boldly declare that all dealings with the estate between a limited estate holder and the next reversioner shall be valid and binding, whether by way of a gift or by way of an alienation for consideration. The presumption raised in clause 22 that all purchases and investments made by a limited estate holder out of her income shall be deemed to be her stridhana until the contrary is proved, has long been recognised and acted upon in Madras and there can be no objection to its being statutorily declared.

The chapter on maintenance is quite unexceptionable. Clause 24 merely declares the existing law as to the personal and proprietary liability of a Hindu in the matter of the maintenance of his female relatives, Clause 25 which deals with a wife's right to separate maintenance confers on a wife a right to separate maintenance in certain cases in which she does not now possess such a right, as for instance where her husband marries a second wife or where he "habitually treats her with such lack of consideration as to make her life unhappy." But there is no doubt that the changes, such as they are, are in consonance with the

progressive views of the times and with enlightened public opinion, though the vagueness involved in such phrases as a ‘lack of consideration’ may perhaps be avoided. How the amount of maintenance is to be determined is laid down in clause 27 which does not very much differ from the method pursued by courts of law nowadays in the fixation of maintenance. Sub-clause 3 of clause 27 defines ‘reasonable wants’ which term inter alia comprises, and no doubt properly, "reasonable provision for educational and cultural needs." Clause 28 which makes maintenance a charge upon the entire family property is perhaps too drastic, and though it is stated in sub-clause 3 that such a change could be confined to a specific portion of the property by agreement or by decree of court, one may be permitted to doubt whether the result would not be to compel managers to file suits against maintenance holders for confining the maintenance charge to a particular portion of the family property.

Whatever might be said about individual recommendations, there is no doubt that the Report is substantially in agreement with the progressive outlook of the times and that it would be of considerable help in focusing public opinion on the several changes which may have, in the near future, to be made in Hindu Law.

V. GOVINDARAJACHARI,

Advocate, High Court, Madras.

‘Songs and Rose leaves’ and ‘The Lama's tale and other poems’.–BY M. KRISHNAMURTHI, Rishikula Asram, Lal Bag Road, Bangalore.

Sjt. M. Krishnamurthi is one of those young poetic souls who have chosen English as their medium of expression. Of late there has been a tendency to discourage efforts like those of Krishnamurthi on grounds of their being de-nationalising and untrue to the soil. But we must point out that under the peculiar circumstances of an individual's life, growth and education, it is possible he might have found his best through English and hence gives out his best through it. After all the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And in Krishnamurthi's poems there is a spontaneity of sentiment which is simple and refreshing and his expression, true to his inspiration is simple, direct and chaste. One can see through his poems the purity of his soul as of the sparkling dew drop of dawn touched by the first morning ray. He sings of the delight of life, of the simple but great things like the warm sunlight, like a glimpse of the "blue unutterable sky which is abundant wage for all his pain."

"Each morning dawns and brings you gifts untold:
Sunshine and warmth, and smiling skies of gold,
Song of glad birds, and color of green trees
Laughter of dew-wet flowers in the breeze,
And light, and love, and health and wholesome mirth
And all that makes a heaven of this earth."

He has a keen sense of life's ills too and tries to understand and interpret them in terms of life and truth. But primarily he is a poet who gives out his impressions of life as they come to him, without trying to interpret them to the world. Real poetry has no purpose to serve, but exists by the right of its inherent beauty like a flower or a beautiful song-bird. It breathes out a refreshing air of beauty and calm and therein is it fulfilled. Krishnamurthi's poetry is this type, simple and beautiful like the flower, the star and the dawn he sings of. In his poetry stands revealed a soul of great refinement and simplicity, He is one of those sweet flowers of the field, stumbled into human form, on its onward course to Truth. In a beautiful hymn he sings thus: -

God! which has planted within my breast
The purple fire-bud of song
And fed it with the honey-light of Thy dreams,
I pray Thee break it into its flowered fulness with Thy breath,
That within its full-petalled altar
I might kindle the fire of my heart's worship
And lift it high to Thy feet.

D. RAGHUTHAM ACHARYA.

"Seven Portraits" of some South Indian Celebrities.–By K. RAM MOHANA SASTRI (The Modern Book Mart, 118, Armenian Street, Madras. Price Rs. 2 or 5sh.)

These exquisite pencil sketches from life by a talented South Indian artist are a welcome contribution to present-day Indian Art. While such studies from actual life are fashionable in the West, they have yet to become so in India. From the earliest times, the Indian artists have not taken kindly to the portrayal of individual man and woman in stone, metal, or more perishable material. And even in the few instances where the artist turned to such subjects, it was not the individual lineaments that were sought to be portrayed but the type–the devotee, the seer or the valiant warrior. Recent Indian portraits in oil colours have usually attempted to be merely photographic, but a photograph differs from a portrait even as a note in "Who is Who" differs from a sketch by Mr. A. G. Gardiner. The inward grace, the predominant mood of the individual portrayed, in a word, the character is not often apparent. It was, we believe, Rothenstein's sketches of the Poet Rabindranath Tagore that first revealed to Indian artists the possibilities of this kind of pencil portraiture. Young Ram Mohana Sastri, in addition to being a painter and etcher of note, has in these sketches distinguished himself as a portraiturist. The volume contains seven studies–Dewan Bahadur M. Ramachandra Rao, Messrs. C. R. Reddy and S. Radhakrishnan, the Rt. Hon. V. S. Sastri, Dr. Annie Besant, Sir B. N. Sarma and Sir C. V. Raman–and in every case the artist as well as the subject have autographed the sketch. Interesting biographical notes are appended.

There is bound to be great divergence of opinion regarding the comparative merits of the sketches. But the ultimate test is not the mere faithfulness to actuality but the successful delineation of individual character. The artist spent long hours with each eminent person concerned, studied the features, gestures, temper and outlook on life, and reproduced what he conceived to be the dominant characteristics. In some instances it is the profile that is taken; in others, the frontal view. Everyone of them is good, but if a choice has got to be made, we should vote for the sketches of Sir C. V. Raman and the Rt. Hon. V. S. Sastri. The strength of the former and the serenity of the latter have captivated us.

The book has been well printed and got-up by the Huxley Press and excellent reprints of the pictures supplied by the Indian Photo-Engraving Company, Calcutta. In every respect, it is a remarkable production. We commend it to all art-lovers.

K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAO.

The Round Table Conference.–(G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, Price Rs. 2.)

The publishers have in these pages given a full and accurate report of the speeches delivered at the London Conference by the delegates both at the opening and closing sessions. The announcement of His Majesty the King-Emperor and the historic statement of the Premier at the concluding session have also been embodied in this work. The proceedings of the Conference form a distinct landmark in the history of the relationship between Great Britain and India, for they throw light on some of the perplexing problems in Indian constitution. On the success of the Conference, it is yet too premature to pass judgment. The exclusion of the Congress was a great handicap to the delegation and it was believed that the Conference was a predestined failure. Thanks however to the co-operation of the Indian Princes and the remarkable advocacy of the Liberal leaders who spared no pains to rally round all forces and present an unanimous national demand, the outlook of the Britisher has changed, and as a result of persuasive argument he has shown some signs of yielding.

To say this is not to belittle the mighty force of the national movement and its reaction on world opinion, particularly that of Great Britain. The nation's travails for freedom from foreign domination have struck a responsive chord allover the world.

The discussions form a valuable contribution to the history of political thought in so far as they have focussed attention on the problem of the All-India Federation comprising the States and British India, which hitherto had been relegated to a remote future. A collection of the speeches in book form is thus of timely interest and will be found invaluable as a book of reference.

C. VISWANATHAM.

Co-operative Reader (in English and Telugu)–BY RAO SAHEB M. V. APPA RAO, Retired Assistant Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Berhampore (Ganjam Dt.)

Mr. M. V. Appa Rao has written the "Co-operative Reader" in English and Telugu for the use of young boys and girls in schools. Within a small compass he brings out the main principles and phases of the co-operative movement and explains, in easy language, its aims and objects. Through the medium of short stories and dialogues and illustrations, the author has successfully depicted the benefits an individual, whether ryot or weaver, gains by becoming a member of a co-operative society. The English Reader mainly deals with the Co-operative movement as it obtains in the Agency division. The Telugu Reader is a small adapted translation made to fit in with the state of affairs in the plains. But chapters 23 and 24 written in Telugu, which are not to be found in the English Reader, must be re-written and brought up to date. We strongly recommend the ‘Co-operative Reader’ to the educational authorities, for use in schools.

K. L. NARASIMHARAO.

Meghasandesa of Kalidasa.- With notes BY VIDWAN G. J. SOMAYAJI. M.A., L.T. and text with the commentary of Mallinatha. (V. Ramaswamy Sastrulu & Sons, Madras).

The author has taken pains to publish exhaustive and critical notes on the text. This edition is mainly intended for college students and unlike the other available English notes, it explains the meaning of every word in a sloka in prose order (anvayakrama.). In addition to a literal translation appended to this edition, most of the words and passages are explained in the notes literally, though instances are not lacking where this procedure was not strictly adhered to. A thorough discussion of all the "rhetorical and grammatical peculiarities in a sloka is another feature which is bound to make the edition highly useful to students. In the explanation of the alamkaras and in the interpretation of slokas the author has not only tried to give as many of the existing views as possible but also showed remarkable originality and boldly attacked some of the old commentators. This must commend it to the scholar of Kalidasa as well.

T. D. R.

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