'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’ ^l

THE ‘TRIVENI’ TRUST

The appeal for a Fund to stabilise Triveni was sent out in June, and we are now approaching the end of September. Part of the preliminary organisation was finished in June and July; we were expecting to begin the actual work of collection early in August. But the months of August and September were wasted in attempts to bring out in rapid succession the May-June and July-August issues of the journal and thus satisfy the subscribers to some extent. For lack of a few hundred rupees to pay in full the printer’s bills, all printing was held up for six weeks. With considerable difficulty we are publishing the May-June Triveni by the fag end of September, and are planning to print the three subsequent issues at intervals of five weeks. This again means that we should have ample funds on hand; these delays, however, make it impossible for us to demand or expect subscriptions. We are repeatedly caught up in a vicious circle. Now, more than ever, we are convinced of the imperative need of a Trust Fund. Between October and April next we propose, with the co-operation of friends everywhere, to realise the greater part of the sum of Rs. 30,000 for this purpose. That there is plenty of goodwill and appreciation is beyond doubt. Only, it needs to be translated into active financial support.

The case for Triveni was put eloquently by The Free Press Journal of Bombay (4th June, 1935):

We invite public attention to an appeal on behalf of Triveni, led by Sir S. Radhakrishnan. Much suffering has gone into the making of Triveni. The Editor is a man incapable of making compromises with the ideal of perfection as conceived by him. The result is, that he literally beggared himself in order to maintain a standard of excellence in the journal so high and lavish that it could never be paid for out of the sales. Triveni has ever been a delight to the eye, and a purveyor of magnificent cultural fare; but it has not been a commercial success. Imbued with a sense of appreciation for the traditions it has created, and moved to admiration by the work of the Editor, a few choice helpers have begun to collect funds for a Trust to ensure the permanence of the journal. It is a labour of love which all lovers of the true and beautiful should feel it a privilege to participate in.’

The warm-hearted Editor of The Free Press Journal mentions certain facts which the Editor of Triveni has always felt great delicacy in mentioning. At some stage, he ougnt to be free to devote his entire energy to the editorial work, and not be deflected from it by the maddening agony of unpaid bills. Eight years is a long enough period for an individual to struggle through unaided!

DANCE TRADITIONS

In the present number Mr. K. V. Ramachandran continues his illuminating study of the dance traditions of South India. After dealing with the ‘Yakshagana’ of Karnataka, the ‘Kathakali’ of Kerala, and the ‘Kuchipudi’ dance of Andhra, he passes on to the Nautch which has fallen into un-merited disrepute because of its accidental association with the professional Devadasis. Mr. Ramachandran is at once a scholar and an artist and is specially qualified to give an interpretation of the Nautch as it exists today and to correlate it with the technique and practice of the classical dance of ancient India. The illustrations enhance the value of the article; and in this connection we wish to say how grateful we are to Mr. and Mrs. Ramachandran for posing to the photographer in the varied, graceful attitudes of the dance. Mr. Ramachandran’s love of Natya is reflected in the disciplined expression of the art by his partner in life. Now that the need has arisen for rescuing the art and winning for it the appreciation which is its due, he has shown rare courage and generosity, and secured her co-operation in this noble task. With the cultivation of a more intelligent attitude towards this ancient art, the dance is bound to come into its own as an essential accomplishment of Indian girls, quite as much as music or literature. Then shall we witness once again the glory of the times when Malavika danced before Agnimitra arid the princesses of Ind made their offering of dance at the shrine of Somanath.

SCHOLAR AND STATESMAN

In perusing the speeches and writings of Mr. Sachchidananda Sinha ² we come into contact with a refined and gracious personality. When a publicist of the standing of Mr. C. Y. Chintamani feels some hesitation in bestowing praise on a senior, lest he should ‘appear to be sitting in judgment,’ how much greater must be the hesitation of the present writer who had not even learnt the Telugu alphabet by the time The Hindustan Review was started in 1900? As the movement for an Andhra Province took shape in 1911, our leaders naturally referred to a similar movement in Behar, and mentioned the names of Mahesh Narayan and Sachchidananda Sinha,–Behari patriots whose love of their home province was not only consistent with, but actually deepened, their love of all-India. As lawyer and publicist, as statesman and scholar, Mr. Sinha stands in the front rank of Indians of an earlier generation. But we specially love to think of him as a journalist who felt an inner urge to launch a high-class journal at a time when daily newspapers monopolised the attention of the Indian Intelligentsia. In fact, he was one of the pioneers of this type of journalism, which seeks to interpret the best in our culture and lays the requisite emphasis on the things of the mind.

The volume covers a wide range and is illustrative of Mr. Sinha’s versatility. Here are speeches in the provincial and all-India legislatures, memoranda submitted to Parliamentary Committees, addresses to music and caste conferences, after-dinner speeches, and intimate personal notes on Pandit Malaviya and Babu Rajendra Prasad. It is dedicated to the Rt. Hon. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru in choice language, breathing the spirit of loyal friendship and affectionate regard.

A COMMONWEALTH OF LITERATURES

We welcome the efforts that are being made by Mr. K. M. Munshi to give an all-India status to our provincial literatures. Hansa, the Hindi magazine till now conducted by Sri Premchandji, will hereafter be edited conjointly by Sjts. Munshi and Premchandji. It will publish articles about the different literatures, with personal sketches of writers and poets, and translations into Hindi of the more valuable literary pieces. Triveni has similar aims, and since 1928, it has bestowed a great deal of attention on the literary and cultural movements in Andhra, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and other linguistic units of India. In fact, this has been a prominent feature of Triveni, and it is not quite accurate today to say that we know the latest literary and cultural activity in England, but not that of our neighbouring province.’

While we readily recognise that it is useful to conduct a magazine in Hindi for the benefit of all Indian provinces, we believe that it is not less important that Indian literature should keep in touch with the literature of the world by the publication of articles on the Indian literatures, and translations of poems, plays and stories, in an international language like English. There are many ways in which Triveni and Hamsa can co-operate with advantage. There is, however, a wide-spread feeling in South India that, in their zeal for the propagation of Hindi, the pracharaks are making exaggerated claims on its behalf, and referring to the literatures in Kannada, Tamil or Telugu with condescension. It is one thing to say that, as Hindi is spoken by the largest number of Indians, it might eventually serve as a medium of communication between province and province. It is altogether different to exalt it to the position of a national language and impose it on all provinces, to the detriment of the local language. We draw a distinction between a common language and a national language. There are several sub-nationalities in India, and to them their mother-tongue is the national language and also the prime vehicle of creative self-expression. Hindi is not inherently superior to Telugu or Bengali; nor is its literature as rich and varied as theirs. We respectfully warn Mr. Munshi against the subtle danger that lurks behind the Hindi movement. The Hansa must steer clear of it.

l 23rd September, 1935

2 A Selection from the Speeches and Writings of Mr. Sachchidananda Sinha (Published by Ram Narain Lal, Allahabad, Pp. 505, Price Rs. 5.)