'The Triple Stream'

...he that laboureth right for love of Me
Shall finally attain! But if in this
Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure!

-The Song Celestial

‘The Triple Stream’ ¹

GANDHIJI AT THE KALASALA

More than twelve years ago, when Gandhiji toured Andhra for the first time, he spent two quiet days at the Jatheeya Kalasala (National College), Masulipatam. The wide open spaces, the green lawns, the rows of palm-leaf cottages, captivated him. During those memorable days he learnt to love the selfless founder of the Kalasala, Kopalle Hanumantha Rao. It was a meeting of kindred spirits, of men with vision seeking to translate their visions into objective reality. Hanumantha Rao passed away within a year, and since then the Kalasala has had a chequered history. But to Gandhiji it has always appealed as a noble legacy to modern India. So, he rejoiced greatly when it was mentioned to him at Delhi, early this month, that the Kalasala was preparing once again to receive him, and to maintain for him the utter silence and peace he requires every Monday and Tuesday during his strenuous tours.

When he came on the 17th evening, it was not Hanumantha Rao alone that he missed; Dr. Pattabhi 5itaramayya, the founder's life-long friend and colleague, was away in Vellore jail. Out of the original band of workers, only Mr. Krishna Rao was present to welcome Gandhiji. By a curious turn in the wheel of Time, the Editor, Triveni, who had rejoined the Kalasala, as Principal, only a month prior to the visit, was called upon to play the host, to introduce the members of the staff, and explain the details of the working of the institution in a twenty-minute interview with the illustrious guest. What a privilege for a new Principal, and a blessing on his work! Gandhiji expressed satisfaction with the arrangements made for his stay and complimented the young volunteers on their ‘vow of silence,’ as he called it. Asif this were not reward enough, he made kind enquiries about Triveni, whether it was paying its way, and if it was published from Madras as usual, remarking, ‘I was receiving your journal even in prison.’ Under such happy auspices was the Kalasala linked up with the Triveni in the person ofthe Editor-Principal.

But what will abide longest in our memory is the unforgettable scene during prayers. Twice every day, men and women–and children too–in hundreds waited for hours on end to have a glimpse of him, as he sat cross-legged under the mango tree near our guest-house and communed with his Maker in soulful song or in melodious chant of the Gita. In those moments one's thoughts strayed almost instinctively to him who walked the earth two thousand five hundred years ago,–the prince turned ascetic in pursuit of the Path of Enlightenment.

DISCONTENT ALL ROUND

At long last, the labours of the Joint Committee have come to an end. It now rests with Parliament to enact another Government of India Act for the benefit of Britain's Eastern Dependency. There is no longer any fear that India will be a ‘lost Dominion’, for the conservative sections of British and Indian opinion have conspired to put off the day of India's freedom. Everybody's interests are adequately safeguarded; the Princes, the landlords, the services, the communalists, are all recognised as important factors in the India of the future. But of real progress, of power to the ordinary citizen to shape the course of administration at the Centre or in the Provinces, of that Swaraj for which generations of Indian patriots have yearned and suffered, there is not the slightest vestige anywhere. The members of the Indian delegation have registered their protest And pleaded for a more enlightened outlook. Sir Tej Bahadbr Sapru's Memorandum puts the case of the Indian Progressives with the utmost lucidity. On the top of it all comes Mr. C. Y. Chintamani's vehement denunciation of the White Paper. This staunch Liberal feels that ‘British arrogance and selfishness have notbeen conquered,’ but how that desirable consummation could be achieved he is unable to tell. Non-Congress publicists are trying to come together on a common platform, to devise ways, and means for rendering the new Constitution innocuous, because they have no hope that it can be made beneficial.

During all this upheaval of political feeling the Congress has remained impassive. It is not interested in the question of constitutional reform. No meeting of the All India Congress Committee can be held without either a proper requisition from the members or voluntary action on the part of the General Secretary. But discontent within the ranks of the Congress is becoming increasingly vocal, though it is as yet too soon to say what following the dissentients will be able to command. The situation is thus baffling. Now, if ever, leadership is needed to give a new direction to the national energy and counteract the forces of reaction.

THE NEW IDEOLOGY

For a time it was hoped that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru would provide that element of leadership. But years of study and reflection behind the prison bars have deepened his faith in Communism, the class war, the divesting of vested interests. In his view the nationalism of the founders of the Congress is an outworn creed. World conditions are altering, and the coming struggle will be between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ everywhere, and not between compact national units. India, according to him, must prepare to throw in her lot with the world forces arrayed against ancient privilege, and in so doing, she must fight not only the Government but also its reactionary allies in India. Such an attitude is perfectly logical, but not very helpful during the present impasse in Indian politics. In the course of our political struggle through several decades, certain notable elements amongst the Indian conservatives–millowners, landlords, bankers, have actively co-operated with the leaders of Indian nationalism. Is it wise to cast them, aside at this stage and drive them into the arms of the enemies of Indian freedom? The present struggle is enough to tax our resources to the utmost; and nobody need endeavour to complicate the situation by holding out vague threats of a class war which a wise ordering of our affairs may ultimately render unnecessary. Political or social progress does not pursue identical lines in all lands. Traditional culture and habits of thought vary from country to country, and India may yet escape the horrors of a revolution which is neither so inevitable nor so imperative as the Pandit imagines. Some have complained that Gandhiji has side-tracked the national movement by emphasising the question of Harijan uplift. With greater truth may it be urged that the Pandit has misjudged the Nation's needs.

UDAY SHANKAR

This gifted artiste's brief stay in South India has given rise to a bewildering mass of comment, laudatory or adverse, and incidentally interest has been aroused in the classical dance-art of India. The Editor was away from Madras and had no opportunity of meeting Uday Shankar or witnessing his dances. This naturally places him at a disadvantage in any discussion about Uday Shankar. In common with all those who believe in the dawn of a new era in Indian art, we hail the coming of Uday Shankar as an event of great significance. To have won for Indian dance the respectful attention of the West, is in itself no mean achievement; to have devoted himself with passionate ardour to the interpretation of the dance constitutes Uday Shankar's especial glory. Whether his dance is absolutely in accord with the canons of Bharata's Natya Sastra, whether it owes its inspiration to Ajanta or to the Kathakali of Malabar, whether Kathakali itself is cent-Per-cent classical, are questions that do not touch the major issue. Is a modern Indian artiste free to express his soul through graceful, rhythmic movements of the body, without conforming in every detail to the technique of the ancients? And does his art cease to be Indian or classical if, in departing occasionally from the conventional mode, he is able to impart richness and vitality to the art? Uday Shankar's dance has its analogue in the new poetry coming into prominence in the different Indian languages. Punctilious conformity to tradition is by no means the highest good; and in dance as in poetry, a true artiste will always break new ground and evolve a technique of his own. Uday Shankar, we venture to think, belongs to this class. In this view so much of the criticism leveled at him seems pointless. He himself, we understand, witnessed a private performance of Bharata Natya in Madras and expressed a desire to study the art more thoroughly during his next visit. It is therefore ungenerous to impute to him a desire to palm off spurious and unmeaning movements as the classical Indian dance. A pioneer has to struggle against odds, and Uday Shankar in presenting Indian dance to the world has become the object of criticism from totally divergent points of view. We have no doubt he will accept the criticism in the right spirit and not be deflected from the pursuit of his noble mission.

HONOURING VENKATA KAVI

During the last Dasara season, the leaders of Andhra thought,–poets, artists, and scholars–met at Masulipatam to do honour to their most distinguished poet on the completion of his sixtieth year. Venkata Kavi and Tirupati Kavi were fellow-students who sat at the feet of the great Brahmayya Sastri, and while yet in their teens, they made their debut into the world of Andhra Letters as twin-poets. Their appearance at the courts of princes like the late Ananda Gajapathi of Vizianagaram was reminiscent of the literary triumphs of Srinadha in the fourteenth century. During a long career they succeeded in freeing Telugu poetry from the fetters of the Prabandha tradition; they prepared the way for a literary renaissance. In the words of a distinguished pupil, Mr. Lakshmikantham, their poetry marks at once the close of the old order and the commencement of the new. Nearly every writer of note today in Andhra is either a student of these poets or has drawn inspiration from them. Some of the younger poets are treading new paths. Venkata kavi is out of sympathy with them; he fails to realise that this is the inevitable development of his own earlier work.

Tirupati Kavi, alas, was snatched away some years ago, but every one felt that his spirit brooded over the unique function which, in effect, was intended to honour him too. His son was present and in most touching language rendered homage to Venkata Kavi. During this literary festival, the decision was taken to bring out a new edition of the collected works of the twin-poets. We look forward to the publication of these treasures of literary achievement.

1 December 31, 1933.