'The Triple Stream'

BY K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAU

THIS UNENDING PILGRIMAGE

A poet-friend whose affection for me is boundless, compared me to a lonely pilgrim pursuing a thorny path, with no protection against the scorching noonday sun, hoping yet that any moment the shrine of the Goddess may burst into view. Today, the heat is not less intense than when those beautiful verses were composed; nor have the thorns in the path blossomed into flowers. If anything, the conversion of Triveni into a Monthly last year has added considerably to my burden. But I continue to believe that this is work which is supremely worth doing; and I shall do it with my limited resources and with the co-operation of those who value cultural enterprises of this kind. To the friends who have all along helped Triveni with money and literary contributions, and to the proprietors of the Jupiter Press who have made it possible for the journal to be published punctually every month, I tender grateful thanks.

PEACE IN SIGHT?

In the latest statements bearing on the political impasse in India, an increasing anxiety to come to terms is noticeable on both sides. But, quite like the formal first meeting of the bride-groom’s party and the bride’s at a South Indian marriage, there is just the minimum of movement. This does not make for speed, while it undoubtedly satisfies the sense of dignity and prestige. Meanwhile, the interim Ministers in every Province, who are no better than interlopers, are loudly protesting their readiness to retire, the moment Congress decides to come in. In Madras, these protestations are coupled with a vituperative propaganda against the Congress in which it is stated ad nauseam that the great national organisation betrayed its trust by refusing to accept office unconditionally in the first instance To people who are ever ready to clutch at office, it is inexplicable that anyone should dream of dictating terms to the Governors before forming Ministries.

One phase of the controversy in Madras throws an interesting sidelight on men and methods. Sir K. V. Reddi contends that Congressmen’s criticism of himself and his Ministry is particularly bitter because he happens to be a non-Brahmin! The Congress leader, Mr. C. Rajagopalachariar, very properly retorts that, even if by some miracle Sir K. V. became a Brahmin, the Congress would continue to attack the Ministry: it is a clash, not of castes but of principles.

All controversies are overshadowed for the time being by the exploits of the Police at Kottapattam in Guntur District. Every Indian paper, and every important publicist, has commented on this wholly unnecessary use of force on a band of young men and women intent on study, who, when their School of Politics was banned, disobeyed the order peacefully and offered no resistance to arrest. Public opinion has been thoroughly roused on this issue, and it is felt that the Ministry has shown a deplorable lack of sympathy and understanding and made an unwarranted inroad into the rights of the citizen. Sooner or later, the Legislature must meet. If the present Ministry happens to be in office till then, the Kottapattam affair is likely to form the subject-matter of a grave indictment against the j Ministry. For, even while peace seems to be in sight, the maintenance of Law and Order assumes strange shapes. Madras has established a record in this respect.

COMMUNALISM IN LITERATURE

While Sir K. V. Reddi’s aspersions on Brahmin Congressmen can only raise an incredulous smile, the proceedings of the Conference of non-Brahmin poets in Andhra must cause dejection of spirit to every genuine lover of literature and the arts. Communalism in literature is a graver evil than communalism in politics; in the nature of things, its effects are bound to be more far-reaching. The relations between poets and literary men all over Andhra have been marked by the utmost harmony. Telugu literature has been enriched by the joint endeavours of men from all communities. Nobody has sought to suppress or belittle the achievement of non-Brahmin poets. If today I were asked to mention off-hand the five or six outstanding literary figures in Andhra, I should certainly include my gifted friends D. Rami Reddy and Nayani Subba Rao among them. Through them, the poetry of Nature and the poetry of Love have respectively attained the loftiest heights in our day.

One contention raised at the Conference is that only a non-Brahmin can wield the native idiom of the common people or write with insight into their daily lives. This may be true within certain limits. It is akin to the claim made through the columns of The London Mercury sometime ago, that proletarian literature could be written only by members of the proletariat. But how about the Yenki Patalu of Nanduri Subba Rao or the Malapalli of Vunnava Lakshminarayana, which are the most touching pictures of contemporary life in the villages, written in the spoken language of the "lower orders" of society, in the Telugu country?

Any efforts to emphasise differences, rather than establish points of contact, in every sphere of life, are unworthy of men calling themselves litterateurs. Such men are playing into the hands of the communal-minded politician, and forfeiting their claim to interpret life in its fullness and its graciousness.

BOY SCOUTS AND ‘BHARAT-KUMARS’

There is much in favour of Dr. Hardiker’s suggestion to organise an all-India movement to train the young in ways of service. After Lord Baden-Powell’s insulting remarks on the character of Indians, and his refusal to apologise for his statement, the scout movement in India ought to cut itself off from the British organisation. It is insufferable that our boys and girls should be drilled into possible supports for rampant Imperialism of the Kipling brand. If Dr. Hardiker will tour the different Provinces and discuss plans with those who have hitherto identified themselves with the Boy Scout movement, his efforts will bear abundant fruit.